


Erebus Labyrinth

by EvilCopepod



Category: Rise of the Guardians (2012)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Greek Mythology, Blood and Gore, Child Death, Gen, Psychological Torture
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-09-06
Updated: 2015-11-08
Packaged: 2017-12-25 19:20:49
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 22
Words: 57,473
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/956734
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EvilCopepod/pseuds/EvilCopepod
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A man punished by the gods is turned into a monster that feeds on and kills with fear, trapped in a labyrinth he relies on human sacrifice to survive. Jack Frost is a fearless warrior who braves the dark labyrinth beneath his city to kill the monster and end the sacrifices. Unexpectedly, they reach an impasse, and both must think of creative ways in which they can kill the other.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Day 4 AU Prompt](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/27098) by morbidlizard. 



> and the prompt for this lovely writer http://linddzz.tumblr.com/

He was known as the Nightmare General, or even the Nightmare King to those ignorant to the king the warrior fought for, even the ones that knew him spoke more of the general than their own ruler. The entire military force had become his creatures, his Nightmares, their name given as they only struck in the dead of night. All of them garbed and armed in black, trained to battle in the dark, to snuff out any light they found, and to do as their general bid them to. It was he who protected the city, who brought home spoils and slaves, who kept their island rich and prosperous; even the royal family knew that he could easily overthrow them if he desired to rule. He only yearned for war, for glory, and most of all the fear that each new conquest brought. 

Each city he plundered looked near the same in the end, all that was not taken was burnt black, and no human remained within, his army turned prosperous cities into lifeless husks. Anyone who was not slain was taken back to the city along with any loot that they acquired. The lucky ones were sent to be slaves to the wealthy, the rest were left to the general. He had a prison below the city constructed for them, it expanded slowly from the center, spiraling out with each new ship full of captives, until the entire city was roof to the maze-like containment area. Prisoners were free to wander the halls, many stayed near the entrances, where food and water was brought for them, but they all cowered when the general came to visit. He would walk the labyrinth without guards, his only weapon a large scythe, few dared to attack him. Despite their large numbers, they feared him enough not to try and harm him, any who did were cut down. All they could do was turn their heads away when he chose one of them for his random executions; man, woman or child, it did not matter to him what their crimes were. The bodies were left behind to rot, for the rats and worms to eat, and when food was scarce enough some of the prisoners did not let the meat go to waste.

There was little kindness from the man, he was cruel to his inferiors and cold to his superiors, only a select few ever saw a softer side of him. Whenever he was with his daughter, his wife long deceased, he showed a different kind of joy than the mad ecstasy he got from tormenting his enemies. It was a loving and sweet happiness, he did nothing to change his kind hearted daughter into the kind of monster he was, and she was shielded from the evils of the world by him. The only abuse he showed her was through his neglect whenever he went to war, but he spent all the time he could with her when he was home and gave her whatever she desired. 

Poseidon was the only god that the man ever gave tribute to, the island was vulnerable to storms and if he willed it, the god could swallow up the land in a great wave. Everyone had been taught to both fear and love him, even before he became a warrior he had paid homage to him, but after he had much more he owed to him. Every journey across the waters went smoothly, he lost few of his bounty and even less of his own soldiers to the sea in his travels. This spurned many of the other gods, the one most insulted was the god of war himself, Ares. The general never offered a single life to him, when asked by his peers he said all the animals and humans killed during battle were sacrifice enough, and he kept the still living to himself. The human also spoke of how he needed not pay tribute to the god of war, he knew the way of wars, and his battles were not won by the favour of some god, but by his own cunning and soldiers. He could plan and control how a fight went, but he could not hope to tame the sea or predict how it would act, so he gave sacrifices to the force he thought out of his power. 

With such arrogance, the general often left the prison doors unlocked, or even ajar, to give his prisoners the false sense of hope, all of them were too cowed to try and walk through, they wouldn’t have done it even if there weren’t guards posted outside. The god of war decided to test the proud human, and in the hours of the night when the guards changed shifts, he put his trial into motion. The prisoners, most already half mad, were filled with a lust for blood and battle by Ares. They stole into homes of citizens, taking whatever they could use as weapons, and began their slaughter of the city. By the time the defenders had caught wind of the escape, most of their enemies were armed and all of them joined in the attack; even the weak, sick, injured, and small. The entirety of the general’s army was there to fight, but the ones he had taken captive outnumbered them near a hundredfold, and they had to try and defend what little citizens still remained alive as well. The general joined in the fight, hacking away at his enemies as more of them swarmed his home where his daughter hid, the guards he left with her were his best, but they were not good enough to survive the mass that descended upon them. 

Not a single blow had hit the general, he did not fear his prisoners, and he would show them that they still needed to fear him. His resolve did not shatter, even as his city began to crumble around him, as his people died, he fought in the manner he always had, slicing through anyone that got near him. Of all the screams that filled the night, there was only one that made him falter, his weapon nearly falling from his hands. The general turned to his home where the earth shattering sound had come from, everything went silent for him then as he ran to his child, leaving himself open to be attacked. It was the type of scream he had heard many times, it was the type of scream that no parent wanted to hear from their child. Before he could get to his home, he was assaulted, held back as he struggled in vain, hearing himself scream in the way he had made so many parents scream.

The general was not given the release of death, he was instead thrown into his prison, completely alone as the rest of his people were dead or still being slaughtered. His former prisoners were not done with him yet. The gods were not either. As he was curled up in the darkness, two more gods came to him through feeling alone. Fear, terror, dread, panic, all that his loss brought him hit the general with such force that his heart almost stopped. He had worshipped what the twin gods brought to the world, but he had ignored them, the twin sons of Ares. Deimos and Phobos spoke as one, their whispers coming from the inside of his head.

**You supped on fear as much as you ever did on food or drink. So let it be your nourishment.**

The terrifying transformation that followed was only witnessed by the ones who caused it, the screams of agony and madness that rose from the prison were lost among the chaos of the world above. The next day there was peace, rejoicing, and mourning. The dead clad in rags were all given honorable burials while the former citizens of the city were thrown into the prison or any other convenient dumping space. Celebrations and feasts were held all across the city as the prisoners that still survived helped themselves to the worldly possessions of the now deceased, and they offered their thanks to the gods. All of this took them well into the night, many were drunk and happy, but most were tired and glad to have a soft bed to sleep on. Very few were awake during the night they should have feared, it was the same kind of night they had been captured on. In the sky, it looked as if there were no moon, there was only blackness and the stars. The Nightmare army always attacked on the night of the new moon, and their general kept the tradition. Instead of soldiers, shadows rose from the ground, unseen by all, but even those who slept were awoken by the shrieking roar that ripped through the night. Then they all joined their voices in one deafening scream as terror took form and swept over the city like a funeral shroud. 

The creature gorged itself on fear the entirety of the night, sucking the life out of each and every human, it left behind a bloodless battlefield. When the sun rose, it was driven back down into the labyrinth that it had ordered to be constructed, never thinking that it would be made a prison for it. There was no true darkness on the island after that, such a beast could not be allowed to roam the world freely. Selene made sure that the moon always shone upon the city and the area around it, and Helios never failed to raise the sun. The creature would have starved if it weren’t for the one god that it had never failed, the seas around the island grew unsettled, whirling around it with such strength that any ship which strayed too close would be pulled in.  
No one knew of this tale, except the gods, the dead, and one man.

Who was not even that anymore.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

History began when a large fleet of ships came within the gentle whirlpool, they all reached the shore safely with their passengers eager to feel solid ground again. It was not a fleet of warriors, but of a society that had fled from war in search of refuge, the few soldiers that remained with them went ahead to scout the land. It was feral, though it showed signs of once being tamed, the animals and plants were proof of that. There were horses, cattle, sheep, pigs, gardens and fields now overgrown and riddled with weeds, but that work was nothing compared to what they would have needed to do if the land had never been altered, and they had lost nearly all of their own livestock during the journey. A place so abundant in food could not truly be abandoned, even a child could live off of the land here without aid. Soon the city was discovered, the scouts only had to take a few steps in before they saw the first body. All throughout the city were skeletons, bleached white by the sun and undisturbed by man or beast. There were signs of a battle done over a century ago, but the majority of skeletons looked whole along with their clothing, none of them looked as if they had been in battle, besides one that had its skull cracked open, but evidence showed that the human had tripped while fleeing from something. 

It took them days to check the whole island and clean out the city, but there was plenty of food for them to camp out on the beach in the meanwhile. What was mainly searched for was the threat, what had killed these people, but there was nothing on the island that could prove to be such a threat. It was most likely a plague, they had told themselves, one long past and dead. The humans all began settling in, there were plenty of undamaged homes for them to live in, and the broken ones were either repaired or torn down. The farmers began to work on the fields and gardens and animals were caught and herded into pens just outside the city. 

The strange occurrences began with the animals, if any were brought near the city they would begin to thrash and fight, even the docile ones, and any that crossed the line between wilderness and civilization screamed like they were being butchered. Having lived in the wild so long, the humans just assumed that the feel of the city beneath them frightened them, so they made their pens bigger and kept them outside of it, thankfully there were no predators large enough to become a nuisance to the exposed animals. The next one was not quite as unsettling, but it was even less explainable. On the days of the new moon, there was still a sliver of the moon showing, it still waxed and waned as normal except for that one part of the cycle. The discovery of the doors, however, could never be fixed or ignored. 

From the start, it was terrifying, the man had finally broke through a pile of rubble to find a doorway, only to open it and fall into a pile of bones, all meshed and linked together, many cracked under his weight. He stumbled back out as quick as he could, and as he stood in the threshold he felt as if something from the inside was taking a deep breath of air as he nearly fell back in on account of his now weak legs. First, it was thought to be a crypt, but the way that the bodies had been thrown in so harshly made it obvious that it was not. All across the city there were doors not unlike the one that had been found, though those ones were more like large holes that bore the same design as the door. The majority of the city was made of light colored tile and stone, the doors were all metal of the blackest kind. All of them were concealed as well, covered up in ivy-like plants, even the doors that were deeper within the city where no other plants grew. Behind each door they found skeletons, they took them out to bury out in the island, how scared the adults became just doing that task was not shared as they kept the feeling to themselves. 

Not one of them volunteered to go down and see what was beyond the entrance area, and no one mentioned that someone should. Even during the night the doorways were avoided as if there were an unspoken rule forbidding approaching it. That did not keep anyone from the door for long, one day a boy went inside beyond the entrance because of a dare and he didn’t come back out. A group of men went in after him with torches and weapons, they didn’t come back out either. After the next dozen were lost, it was decided that they would send no one else. The only signs they ever got from the ones who entered were distant screams of terror. 

What had killed them, no one could say for sure, it could be that there were traps, pits fill with spikes or other concealed dangers. That was not what the citizens whispered of, however, they believed there was something alive down there. Soon they agreed to send down a pig, tying a rope to it so it could be pulled back once it met its fate. They had to make another attempt, however, as they only brought back a severed rope the first time, so they fashioned a collar and long length of metal chain and sent down another. Just as the first swine had, the animal ran as soon as it was released, squealing in panic, the sound grew ever more distant until it was cut off. 

The men began to pull on the chains, though it became heavier with each tug, more of the villagers had to be gathered when the weight was too much for the ones gathered to pull. It was nearly nightfall when the first body appeared, attached to the chain. The corpse’s arms were drawn behind its back, bones broken and protruding out of the wrists and hooked into the opposite arm, pinning them together to keep it from falling off of the chain. That was the only wound inflicted on the body, but the face was frozen in an expression of pure horror, dead eyes wide open. Every human that had gone there came out like this, some bound together in bunches, others trailing in solitude. By the time they had pulled out all of them and separated them from the chain, night had fallen. The last to come was the pig, it had no signs of being attacked on it, and when they cut it open, they saw that the meat was tight and hard, the animal had been scared to death most likely.  
No mere beast could create such a disgusting display of bodies, whatever was down there had to be cruel and intelligent. Inhuman laughter soon followed these thoughts as the shadows coming from the door seemed to grow alive. One man’s foot was grabbed and he was dragged down, the others scrambled to get away, the only ones that got a clear view of the monster didn’t live long enough to speak of it. The shadows did not reach past the moonbeams, and all who made it into the light were saved by it. It was then that the creature hissed out its demands, it spoke the tongue of man but its voice was far from natural, the sound bringing shudders to each human. 

In the light of day, the entrance was sealed up, all of the other places that lead to the labyrinth were just covered holes on the ground, so they piled up rocks and other heavy objects on each. The monster had demanded more humans be sent into the labyrinth, the threat if they didn’t was not stated but it was clear. The villagers had no intention to do as they were told, guards were posted to watch the blocked entrances and no one was allowed near them. They thought that they could keep from harm, and for a month it seemed as if that were true. There were no more dreams in the city, and with each night they turned worse, the nightmares kept many awake, and the ones who dared to sleep wished they hadn’t. Soon the town was exhausted, even a few of the weaker minded had been driven to insanity by their nightmares. Those ones were the first to go, they were thrown down into the labyrinth, and the remaining slept through the next night in peace as the nightmares were lifted. 

So began the sacrifices to the monster that dwelled beneath their perfect city, and the humans did their best to adapt to the necessary evil. There was little crime in the city as the punishment was the labyrinth, no one tried to flee from the island as the punishment was the labyrinth, and any invaders or strangers who came were given to the labyrinth or otherwise forced to join their community. Every family was expected to give at least one sacrifice throughout their life in the city, the choice of which household had to give up one of their own was random, to discourage fleeing, and those who had already been chosen could breathe easy until their time came again. Making a family choose which of them would go was not a cruelty that the authorities would force them to go through. So they chose for them, they chose the one who was the least useful to the family, who had the least potential, and whose death would have the least impact on their society as a whole. 

The ones who went about the duty of collecting the sacrifices were the priests of Selene, men dressed in all white with smiles that never faltered or changed in shape. They were the most respected in the community, as they saw to the worship of the moon goddess, and few dared to harm them in fear of offending Selene. Both her and Helios were greatly worshipped among the city, though Selene more than the sun god. He rose in his chariot the same here as he did with the rest of the world, but she gave them extra moonlight to protect them. It was clear that it was not the doors or the labyrinth itself that kept the creature trapped, but the light that came from the sky kept it from taking humans as it pleased. No one saw the beast beyond the darkness of the labyrinth, it was assumed that it was Erebus or at least his creation. The light kept the creature at bay, and the sacrifices kept the nightmares at bay, everyone was expected to do their part. This went on for several decades, each year making the practice more and more routine, children born into the city did not know of a life different than this one. To keep the city safe, a few of them had to give their lives; it was an honor to protect the city and its people. 

The next batch of honored sacrifices was being sorted, and the Frost family was the first on the list.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so flattered to have had so many readers... And the kudos as well, thank you! UuU I hope that any who check back (or new ones) continue to enjoy the story! If you like the art this is inspired by, please enjoy more great works and ideas at http://morbidlizard.tumblr.com/ !

Lunanoff’s military was small and insignificant, but in all the years their participation in wars could be counted on one hand. There were some invasions, usually pirates that had their ship pulled to the island, but any who came with malicious intent were tricked or forced into entering the labyrinth. The monster inside never let any of them leave alive. For the most part the military was used to escort their trading ships; while they had all they needed to survive on the island some of the higher parts of society had rich tastes for exotic wares. There were only several of the residents allowed to know how to make it out past the spiraling waters that encircled the island, all of them captains and crew members to the few vessels that were allowed out. 

The soldiers guarded the ships, the cargo, and made sure that everyone returned safely. Only those with family were allowed to join the crew, if they deserted their entire family would be sacrificed, so it kept that thought from most of their heads. If selfishness could be weighed then they would send the ones with the most self-interest, as they often returned with a lover who would bring more children and diversity into the drawing pool. Jack Frost was one of the many who went out with the ships, and while he brought back no future wife, he had many new tales to share with his sister. The reason he joined the military was to visit other lands, a freedom forbidden to even the most powerful government officials of Lunanoff.

All of his commanding officers would describe him as well behaved, obedient, no nonsense and even a bit too solemn for someone so young. Those that knew him better would call him the master of deadpanning. He could glue a general’s sword to its sheath and stand stone faced as they ended up clocking themselves in the face when they tried to yank it out. If a bucket of chum happened to be balanced above the door to the captain’s quarters, he would be the first to demand who had done it. Only his bunk mates heard his laughter as he muffled it with a pillow whenever he allowed himself to revel in the day’s pranks. He was more than a trickster, which was often why he never got blamed, as he was one of the finest soldiers that Lunanoff had. He had seen more fights than most, Jack remembered his training and learned more in every battle. Unlike his comrades, he actually expected to have to defend their ship and all that was on it, many of them froze up in battle until Jack offered inspiring words to make them join him. 

The fighting was done for now, once the ship had made it into the island’s port, Jack waited until he was dismissed and out of sight before he bolted for his home. The wind blew in his white hair and his blue eyes were soon watering from both that and the speed he was going. His weapon was slung easily over his shoulder, it was a large double sided iron spear. One side was like most spears, a sharp head with a curved barb in it to make pulling it out difficult on the injured, that side was more for when he was throwing it at enemies or thrusting into them. The part he used the most was a curved blade, fashioned in a shape similar to the crescent moon that protected them all, he used this for slashing at enemies without having to get too close to them or lose his weapon by throwing it. 

His haste to get home was both because he had missed his family and that one of them might not be there anymore. The sacrifices happened randomly, and there could have been one while he was gone, and his sister or mother could have… All of those thoughts were cleared from his head as he saw his sister playing by their home and his mother watching his approach with an anxiousness that matched his own. 

“Jack!” His sister’s face brightened as she ran to greet him, he crouched down and took her into a hug, laughing. His mother came next, frowning as best as she could, but he was able to see the smile trying to get past her stern expression. 

“Jack Frost, how many times have I told you not to run while carrying that thing? You could trip and lose an eye, or your _head_.” 

“Next time I’m in a battle, I’ll be sure to walk up to the charging enemy.” That broke her hard look as she grinned back at him, shaking her head as he stood and gave her a hug as well. She had prepared a special dinner for her returning son, and while Jack had been looking forward to sleeping in his own bed again and without being cramped up in a cabin with a bunch of others, he happily welcomed his younger sister to sleep with him. It was the last truly happy night that the Frost family had. 

“Where did you take all the birds? Why did people want them?” Jack had been too tired to answer her questions right after he returned, but he had been talking away the morning with her. 

“It’s not the birds that they wanted, it’s their eggs.” His sister nodded in understanding, but his next words baffled her, “And it wasn’t people that wanted them.” 

“What did?” 

“Rabbits.” 

“Rabbits don’t eat eggs!” All the wonder left her as she lost any faith in his story. 

“They weren’t normal rabbits. They were taller than me, and they could take. But you’re right, they didn’t eat the eggs… they painted them.” His sister was wide eyed and awestruck up until he started to laugh. 

“Hey! You liar! I didn’t fall for that!” 

“Of course you didn’t.” Jack smirked, “Do you want to hear another story?” 

“Yeah, but one that I know isn’t a trick… Tell me about why you look different than me and mom!” Both his sister and mother had brown hair and eyes, and while she couldn’t confirm it herself, their father had been the same. 

“That one again? Don’t you want to hear what I saw while I was gone?” She shook her head fervently, the girl wanted to hear something mystical, and he had to admit that none of his adventures beyond the island matched up to that story unless he embellished them. Jack had made his mother retell it hundreds of times, it was a shame that one of his greatest adventures was one he couldn’t remember. 

“A long time ago- well, long to you because you weren’t even born- there was a servant who worked in the temple of Selene. He found the list of the upcoming sacrifices and saw his own family’s name on it, along with his friend’s and others he knew. Most servants don’t learn how to read, but you couldn’t be a ‘lowly’ servant to have a chance to work in the temple, it definitely didn’t protect your family from being picked. So when he got back home, he told his family, told his friends and their family, he rounded up everyone who was in the families that were picked… and they ran away. They killed one of the guards to get out of the city and hid away in the wilderness. When the priests came to collect the sacrifices, they didn’t find even one member of any of the families. They couldn’t just choose a new batch of sacrifices, said it takes time to choose just who goes from each family, and it wasn’t fair to those who could have had more time to live. So they sent out search parties to find the families that ran away to put in the labyrinth.” 

He saw his sister grip the middle of her dress tightly, this was always the part of the story that scared her the most. She was afraid of the labyrinth, the sacrifices, and what happened down there, it was something that no one had ever come out of before, and he didn’t doubt one of the fouler boys of the city had been filling her head with more awful ideas on what exactly did go on down there. 

“It had been a really long time since the last sacrifice, though, the priests had thought to make it up by offering so many this time, but they had to stall it longer since they had gone into hiding. The monster below was not happy, and it decided to remind everyone just why we have to give up so many good people to it. A few nights after the sacrifice was supposed to happen, it sent up the worst nightmares that it could. Most of those that were lucky enough to grow old died from fear, and all the infants… they didn’t make it through the night. Only one of us did, and that was me. ‘cept after that night, the little brown puff of hair on my head grew out white, and the blue that all babies have never left my eyes.” Jack kept out the part that his mother had kept from him until he was older, that he had been crying and screaming in a way that she had never heard a baby wail when the nightmares had come.

“But _why_? Why did your hair turn white? I seen plenty of people with blue eyes, but only old people have white hair.”

“I can’t answer that for sure. But people around here say that I was kissed by the moon goddess, right on the head like mom always does for us, and like our Da did before that ass kicked him in the head.” It was a more merciful death than the labyrinth, at least, and he never lived to see any of the rest of them put in there. 

“So why didn’t you become a priest? If she likes you so much…” 

“People _say_ that she kissed me, there’s no proof or visions or anything. And can you imagine me as a priest? I’d rather color my hair with dirt every day than have to be made into one because of it.” 

“That’s disgusting! You’d get worms in it!” 

“No, I wouldn’t.” Jack said, serious before he grabbed her, “Because I’d make you eat them every morning if any got in it!” She squealed, kicking a bit and squirming in an insincere attempt to get away from him, but all of their joking around was cut off by the sound of their mother’s shrill voice. 

“No, you _can’t_!” 

“… stay here.” Jack told his sister, his serious look genuine this time as he picked up his weapon and to the door that his mother was using to keep from keeling over. 

“Take… take me instead. Please.” 

“We are sorry.” Jack’s face paled as he saw the grinning priests at their doorstep, “She is too young to care for herself, and your other child is away too often to watch her, she would only hinder him if she were to stay. That is why she is the one that has to go.” 

“Go… go where?” Jack’s voice cracked, he knew the answer already, but he didn’t want to believe it. The spear was in his hand, he could attack them and- And then what? Anger the moon goddess? Run off? He would mark his entire family for sacrifice, and he had little hope of escaping on his own, it would be even more difficult to bring his mother and sister. 

“To the labyrinth, of course. Just as you fight to protect us, she will serve to protect us as well. It is the greatest honor that any of us can be given.” 

“No, it isn’t-! It’s not the same!” The priests were not bothered by his outburst, it was normal for a family to become upset, as long as they gave their sacrifice peacefully, then they could scream and curse as much as they wanted without consequence. 

“You are right. It is greater than what you do. The sacrifice will ensure that all of us remain unharmed.” 

“She has a name!” His mother was now sobbing, having slid down against the door frame and lost all ability to speak. 

“Her name does not matter anymore, only her service.” 

“I will go.” The priests continued to grin, though Jack could have sworn that another emotion flickered in their eyes, annoyance or anger. 

“Your services are required for battling our enemies. Your sister will never be able to take up arms and fight as you do. The best she can ever be is a sacrifice.” 

“I’m not offering to be a sacrifice. I’m offering to be a warrior. There is no greater enemy than the monster below us, I will fight and kill it.”

The priests turned away and formed something like a huddle, Jack felt his mother gripping his pants, but he didn’t dare look down at her, if he did he might break as well, and he had to act brave to be accepted. It had been a long time since anyone had offered to fight the monster, many of the sacrifices went down with a weapon and sometimes even armor, but it was different to go down willingly with the intent to destroy the beast. The priests turned back to them, nodding their heads in unison as the one in front spoke. 

“You will be a warrior then. Your sister will remain here with your mother as you go to fight the creature.” 

“I’m ready.” Jack turned to go collect his things and say goodbye to his sister, but one of the priests bid him not to. 

“You will not be coming with us now. Since things have changed, there will need to be special preparations made. We will retrieve you once the time is right, make sure that you are prepared for when we return.” 

Jack nodded to them, pulling his mother away from the door before he slammed it on their cheerful faces. She clung to him, burying her face against his chest, he wrapped his arms around her, trying to soothe her with reassurances when his sister came in, her eyes shining as tears waited for the news before spilling out. 

The next days were filled with dread, Jack and his family tried to be happy, to spend time together and enjoy it, but it was hard when they knew that he was going to be taken away from them. Jack kept telling them that he would be back, that he would put a stop to the sacrifices. Even though he was the one going into the labyrinth, he was the one that feared this fact the least in the family. His mother and sister didn’t think he would come back, but he was certain that he would, and he barely managed to convince his little sister to cheer up. 

It had reached almost four days when the priests came again, he was garbed in his armor when they came for him. He had light blue pants, the color matched with his long sleeved shirt with a high collar and he wore sandals on his feet. The colored underclothes were covered by a dark leather war skirt, he had a rounded metal plate over one of his shoulders that was held there by a strap of leather across his chest and back. He had a breastplate made of steel and bracers on each arm made of the same material, though it was polished and shone like it were made of silver instead. His shield was mostly wood, but the edges were made of metal and had spikes protruding out of it, the pattern on the front of the shield was a painting of the moon, a sliver of a crescent, the very same phase that occurred on every night that there should be a new moon. He never wore a helmet as it limited his vision, he relied on speed to fight and he needed to see his enemy wherever they went, even if it meant leaving his head vulnerable. 

Jack said his final goodbyes, though he wouldn’t leave until he got his sister to give him one last smile. He thought it was odd that they held off the sacrifices so long, there had been no one before them to offer him training, tips, or even better arms, and he couldn’t guess what else the preparations could be. Once they reached one of the many openings to the lair, he was motioned to go into the empty cage to be lowered down. It wasn’t a cage meant to contain, there was an opening in it with no door at all, it was simply meant to get the sacrifices to the labyrinth below safely.

“Where are the others?” 

“The sacrifices went below on time.”

At that answer, Jack’s mouth went dry, he stared at the priest as his words and implications sunk in. All of the other people who had been chosen went the night that his sister was supposed to have gone, they were already down there. No… they were already dead most likely. Jack had intended to go with them, to slay the beast before any of them had been killed, or at least fight it off while they found an exit. 

“It had been a while since the last sacrifices; we thought it was best if you didn’t go down while the creature was hungry.” One of the priests explained, still smiling, “Now it has been sated and should be less vicious. You did not need others distracting you from your mission either.”

He remained silent after their attempt to justify their actions, there was nothing he wanted to say to these men, he just climbed into the cage. With his head held high and without a shred of fear in his heart, he was lowered into the labyrinth. He would kill the monster, those people would be the last to ever die because of it; Jack Frost would make sure of that.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* 

A dull thudding sound echoed off of the many walls of the labyrinth, it was accompanied by the crack of bone. A corpse was being bashed against the wall, the floor, the ceiling, in a lazy and bored manner, the motions grew faster with the agitation of what held it. Flung to the ground like a doll, the beaten and broken body landed in an unnatural position, but the creature that hunkered down beside it looked even less natural. Claws black and sharp poked through the skin with tips like needle points, the holes in the body only seeming to make it angrier as the creature let out a frustrated snarl.

Why did the blood stop flowing after something died? Well, that was simple, because death meant no more heart pumping it throughout the body. But _why_? Why did it have to be so _difficult_ to get blood splatters _after_ death? It had wanted to spread blood near one of the entrances to its labyrinth, or anywhere really. Such a sight would surely raise the fear of any who saw it. But no matter what it tried, it couldn’t get an adequate amount out of dead humans once it made their hearts freeze with fear. If it made them bleed while they were still alive it knew that it could get ample amounts of blood out of them. It had seen many of them stumble and fall, cutting themselves open on rock or bone, their gashes had spurted like fountains. It didn’t want to make them bleed while they were still living, though. Bleeding made them weak, it made them tired, and there was such a thing as being too tired to be afraid. It wanted them strong and aware, not on the verge of passing out when it attacked them. It seemed that the monster would have to do with bones, skin, and organs instead of blood, it could get whatever spilled out of them when it took those out, but it was hard to arrange where exactly it wanted the blood without the convenient packaging that was their body.

It wasn’t the blood it was really mad about, it was how fast those last victims had gone. It had been hungry, hungrier than usual, and it found it very difficult to control itself when the humans had practically _starved_ it. Now it would have to wait for gods know how long before they sent down more humans for the monster to feast on. After it had killed them all, it felt fine, but the hunger soon returned and it found himself wishing it had taken more than an hour to enjoy them. It had tried allowing the rats and other pests the humans threw down to breed, no animals walked within the walls of the city willingly, but the farmers still had to dispose of their crop killers somehow. A rat was not a human, though, and it still found itself killing them far too quickly. The monster was just awful at rationing out its food, it wouldn’t kill it, but it would make it hungry and agitated and it hated feeling hungry and agitated.

Its thoughts were interrupted by the smell of fear, one that it knew all too well. The priests were always afraid when they offered sacrifices, as if it would reach up and drag them down as well. It would if it could, not because it bore any ill will toward the men, but because they would serve just as well for food as any other. There was another sacrifice coming right now, so soon after the previous one? Some foolish human must be guilty of a crime, it had been a long time since ir was given a treat like this. The creature set off in the direction of the fear, not taking a moment to realize that it had scented no fear beyond what the priests felt.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter... they meet!


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tried to do justice to http://morbidlizard.tumblr.com/ 's picture of Pitch with words. Don't count on my description, though, go back to the first chapter to find a link to the original art that it's inspired by!

The opening above him was sealed shut, he stood where he was to allow his eyes to adjust to the small amount of light in here. When he felt confident enough to move, he began walking through the labyrinth, spear raised and ready as he turned every so often to make sure the creature was not coming up behind him. It was not as dark as he had expected it to be, above him the ceiling had light coming through in several places, and he could only suspect that it came through the cracks on the city pavement above. It was not the kind of light that could be counted on for illumination, what made it through the ceiling was not like sunlight or moonlight, but more like starlight. None of the light reached beyond the cracks to the floor, and it wouldn’t be noticed unless one looked up. That small amount of light was enough to keep him from tripping or running into walls, and soon there proved to be many obstacles. 

There were bones from all manners of creatures, rats, livestock, birds, cats, dogs and the outside skeletons of insects. The most common were human, many still intact, spread across the ground as if the person had simply fallen asleep, others were posed against walls, the bones of their fingers filed by the wall that was covered in their nail and bone marks as if they had tried to claw their way up to the ceiling. What was even more surprising, was that there was an abundance of corpses that were barely decayed, the screaming expressions still clear on their wilted faces. It was cold down here, which is all that Jack could think of that would keep them in such a condition. Not even flies ventured down here to help the bodies to rot away. 

The gruesome trail was often enough to make any who ventured down here sick to their stomach and sick with fear, but all it did was make the warrior more determined. This was no way to die, even after their death they were desecrated, left like dead animals instead of given a proper burial. Child and adult bodies alike were curled up in fetal positions, some with arms held up high in the air as if to push something away, others with their faces covered as if to defend from something. Jack continued to walk, past the bodies pinned to walls, the ones that looked like a hungry beast had torn into their chests, the ones bent in ways he had never seen a  
human attempt to do. 

All he could do was walk, there were twists and turns in his path, but it was only one path, there were no dead ends, there were no forks or turns to choose from. The only choice in direction he had made was the one at the beginning, he could have gone left or right from the entrance and he had chosen to go right. He could only continue in the direction he was headed or turn back and retrace his steps to the other two options. The only signs of the creature he ever found were the remains of others, there were no footprints or claw marks, no waste, no fur, feathers, teeth, scales, there was nothing. 

He continued on for a few more hours, the going was slow because of his caution and his search for anything abnormal. Then he found another split in the paths, it looked almost identical to the first, but there was one extra path. He could go back, forward, left, or right to where there was a dead end, another entrance to the labyrinth. Looking in on the other directions, he saw skulls and other bones, as well as bodies much fresher than any he had seen yet. He realized quickly that these were the sacrifices that had gone only days before, he turned to the entrance, walking toward the center of the area as he stared up toward the sealed opening above. A noise behind him, the first he had heard in here beyond what he had made himself, made him spin around with his spear pointing toward the sound. The first part of the mesh of eerie noises he recognized was the cracking of bones, then the twisting of limbs, the clatter and scrape of claws. He could tell which of the paths the beast was coming from, for what else would be making such an unholy racket? It was from the one in front of him, what should lead through the center of the labyrinth. Before the monster revealed itself, it let out a roar that shook the labyrinth, small loose pebbles falling from the cracks in the ceiling and walls. It did not shake Jack at all.

Rounding the corner was a gargantuan creature, its back nearly scraped the ceiling where its serpentine body was arched, and even in the large corridor he could not see the end of it. Its entire form was shadowy and appeared incorporeal, he could see through it to the stone behind it in some places, but the blackness shifted nonstop like a turbulent river. There were slim spikes coming from the back of the creature’s head and going down along its spine, some were sharp, others looked like liquid flowing up through the air, and they followed no size pattern. Its eyes were golden and glowed, they were set in place on the beast’s face, but all across its body were slashes shaped nothing like eyes but were of the same color and brightness, these moved about the body as if they were adrift in the blackness. It could have been his imagination but he swore that some of the empty places formed shapes like fanged wailing souls with yellow sores for eyes. Out of the body sprouted several limbs, the exact amount could not be determined as they didn’t remain in any set place, they sunk into the body and reemerged where they were needed, they were used to keep the creature’s belly from dragging across the ground, making quiet footfalls for its size as they scurried across the ground, a few of them rested against one of the walls. The fingers on them were thin and pointed, obviously clawed but with no visible distinction between finger and talon, at the moment most of the small hands held three fingers, two long ones in front and a smaller thumb near the back. The arms and legs were gnarled, twisting around erratically when they weren’t making contact with anything solid, there were few that remained still, looking like dead tree branches, the claws on them twitching every so often. Throughout the body he could catch glimpses of parts that looked like they did not belong to the beast, spines, femurs, skulls, all floating about in the turmoil, rising above the black goo like bubbles before being sucked back inside, either remnants of its latest meal or a macabre form of jewelry. The monster’s head was large and pointed, the jaw underneath protruding much farther than the one above it, its teeth were one of the more substantial looking parts of it. Though there were no gums, the teeth seeming to fuse to the black face, and some of them were sharp on both ends, they looked real and didn’t shift about, unlike the black strings of saliva (if it even was that) which clung to the creature’s maw. They were as white as Jack’s hair, the thin pointed fangs were uneven, and even with the under bite, the teeth in the front of the upper and lower jaw met together perfectly when the mouth was joined, the lower fangs were long and curved inward toward the top teeth. Above the grinning mouth was a pair of nostrils, they were connected in a shape similar to the nose, or lack thereof, of a skull, they widened and thinned as it seemed to be trying to scent something on the human. It lowered its head down in front of him, black threads snapping around its mouth as it opened, drawing in a deep breath. 

Jack Frost attacked without any more hesitation, the only reason he had held back so long was because the creature hadn’t come close enough. He swung the curved blade of his spear at the countenance in front of him, not stopping when the face recoiled, he lunged forward, slicing the throat on the elongated neck. Black liquid spurted, almost hitting the warrior, but he held up his shield to keep the possibly toxic substance from hitting him. It was bleeding, he had cut it with his blade, and that must mean he could bring it down with enough hits. The only thing that concerned him in the battle was that he was backed up against a dead end, he couldn’t retreat too much or he would find his back to a wall. So he moved forward, slashing at the monster and holding up his shield whenever it lunged back, though the impact he expected whenever he blocked it never came. The only thing he ever felt from it was the intake of air, it was constantly moving in to smell him, more often than it tried to attack him. After a few more minutes of battle, the monster drew in a final breath before pulling back away from Jack. He took a few cautious steps forward, wondering if it was too wounded to fight anymore, he could see blood spilling from it even now. The creature was still grinning, though, but he hadn’t thought anything of the expression beyond that it was the shape of its face until it started to laugh. The sound was as loud as the roar, but while that had been bestial, this was clearly a noise of amusement, though it was , monstrous and frightful, lacking any tone that would invite someone else to join in. More of the black liquid spurted from it, oozing off of it and onto the ground as well as flying through the air, it was then that Jack realized why it was laughing. He saw it dripping from places he had not cut it, and it was not bleeding in the pattern he had sliced through it in the places he had managed to get a hit in. Whatever was coming from it was not the monster’s blood, even if he hadn’t cut it at all it would still be pouring out. 

Jack was not scared by this, even though he had no idea how he was to fight the monster if he could not cut it, he was sure he could figure something out. He could see the monster sniffing the air again, the action barely noticeable this time, and suddenly it began to shrink. The limbs and spikes pulled into the body, the uneven and jagged shadows that made up its form smoothed down like fur on a calmed beast, its teeth sunk inside of its jaw and vanished from sight, the eyes growing smaller all across the body. What was formed next was something like a man’s shadow, elongated and black, the black and gold on its body looking like preened feathers or thick fur, its hand looked like a human’s, but it was black and too long fingers were clawed. It hunched over Jack like a great vulture staring at a dying animal, its nose was pointed and hooked slightly like said bird, and its chin was sharp. Though its entire form had no discerning texture or color that separated body parts, the top of its head had what looked like black hair pointing upward. Unlike its larger form, the main eyes on this creature were not so prominent, there were several on the face, all of them thin and leering. There were no teeth, but it plainly looked like the teeth from before had been yanked out, making it appear like its black lips were teeth with the jagged shape of the lack of fangs, its grin was smaller and toothless but still as wide as ever. The human leaned forward, staring into its eyes with a defiant look, not flinching as a hand rose to point a talon at him. 

"Ahhh, so you aren’t scared? You’ll learn to be, like everyone before you did."

The words were spoken in the language of man, but Jack had never heard any human speak in a way even slightly similar to how the monster did. It was almost a whisper, but Jack had no difficulty hearing it, it was both loud and quiet, the words resonating in his ears as if it had been spoken directly into them. Most would say that it was terrifying as well, eerie and cold, like a slimy snake had slipped inside your mind to bring all of your horrors to light. Jack Frost just thought it sounded annoying. 

There was no response from the human, he only swung his weapon at the monster again, thinking he might be weaker in this shape, but he only hit air. It left him quieter than it had arrived, he searched for it before continuing down one of the paths again. Its words stayed in his head, he tried to figure it out as he walked, not sure why the monster cared whether or not he was afraid. It did not reappear again to attack, and Jack eventually found himself growing weary, from the battle and all the walking he had done, and how he had left his family. It would do him no good to tire himself out, so he decided to rest, he could sleep for a few hours and feel rejuvenated. Putting himself up against the nearest corner of the wall, he hadn’t been able to find another entrance to sleep in, he sat up in a position that was not the most comfortable, his hand tight around his weapon and his shield held to cover his legs. It would make it so he didn’t sleep too deeply, so that even the tiniest of sounds would wake him. 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~**~*~*~*~* 

The monster arrived without a sound, it stared at the human with seemingly dozens of eyes. It couldn’t believe what it was seeing, the warrior was _sleeping_ in his labyrinth. He wasn’t the first to, but those had only reached such a state by passing out from exhaustion or fear, he hadn’t even been here a day and he decided to take a _nap_. It had to do with his lack of fear, that much was obvious, it was stupid to sleep with a monster lurking about, but if it wasn’t feared, the monster wouldn’t cause them enough strife to keep them awake. 

Lucky for Jack Frost, the fact that he did not fear the monster in the slightest was what keeping him alive right now. There wasn’t anything particularly astounding about the boy, he was just that, still a _child_ , barely a man. He had never fought any creature like him, that was for certain, and no human was more terrifying than the monster. This one didn’t even have much damage on his armor or shield nor scars on his skin, he was no battle wizened soldier, so why did he act braver than the other warriors who had come before him? The monster had thought for sure that once he found that his weapon did nothing all of his bravado would vanish, but he hadn’t been given even a whiff of fear. 

Even locating Jack had been difficult, he took the opposite turn that Jack had, and he couldn’t very well find him unless he was afraid. The entire labyrinth stank of human with their bodies strewn about, the only thing that it lacked was the scent of fear that the monster adored. He had no idea what this one’s fear even smelled like, and if he hadn’t heard him walking about, he would have likely bumped into him instead of putting in that dramatic entrance. Which had no effect at all on the boy.

Jack Frost’s fear would soon be known, no matter how brave or stupid he was, the monster was certain that it could find a way to frighten the human. As soon as he did, it would not hesitate to devour his fear and kill him.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Internet got cut off, which both gives me more time to write and less chance to post. I have places I can walk to for wifi (somewhat obvious by this update I know), so I'll still be putting them up as often as I can! I have great readers so I'd hate to keep you all waiting!

Something cold dripped on his head, like freezing water, but it didn’t grow any warmer upon contact, it was more like liquid ice. His eyes shot open as a larger splash hit him on the forehead, and he was met with the mouth of the monster. Beyond the teeth there appeared to be nothing, no tongue or throat, there could have very well been a hole in the back but it was too dark to see anything. It appeared that it was drooling on him, but it wasn’t doing anything besides that, Jack responded quickly by slamming his shield up against its throat and thrusting the smaller end of his spear up through the roof of its mouth. The spear point protruded through the top of its head, its smile only grew, black slime beginning to coat the steel and ooze down toward Jack’s hand. 

Yanking the spear out, a task much easier than he would have thought because of the barb on the end, he prepared to attack again before the creature moved away. The front of his shield was coated in the black substance, some of it had splattered on the human’s skin and clothing, but so far he wasn’t feeling any negative effects. Standing up, he positioned his spear so the larger blade was at the front before he charged after his enemy, but there was no trace of it around the corner besides a few splatters of the dark liquid.

Jack tried to clean it off of himself, but it was like tar, it stuck to him and his possessions, only attaching to his hand when he tried to rub it away. As it wasn’t harming him now, he decided to leave it be as he continued to explore the labyrinth and search for the monster. It had fled, so that must mean he really had harmed it in a way, or else it would have just killed him like it had done the others. He had to find a safer place to sleep, somewhere small enough to keep the other from entering, or anywhere that wasn’t so out in the open. It had approached him and he hadn’t noticed immediately, next time it might try to attack him before he wakes.  
It wasn’t noticeable at first, but soon Jack realized that the gunk that had stuck so stubbornly was going away. It wasn’t falling off onto the ground, but it was actually fading from where it was, becoming less solid and more see through with each passing minute. It took only an hour for it to vanish, not leaving so much as a stain on his clothing. Why it did that, he wasn’t sure, but it made a bit of sense when he looked at the labyrinth, the way that creature dripped, it would be filled like a dark river now if it didn’t fade like this. 

It took him longer to realize he was being followed, he turned his head to look behind him quite often, but he never spotted the monster. A few times he thought he saw a movement in the shadows, but only took it as his imagination. When he saw it several times, each with the turning of his head, he decided it wasn’t his mind playing tricks on him. When he took a chance and ran at the shadows, slicing them, his blade came back with black goo on it, and the shadows suddenly grew lighter. 

The entire thing confused him, how insubstantial the monster was, and how cowardly it seemed. He had seen its work, the bodies torn to pieces and displayed, and no one had ever come out of the labyrinth alive. Even the people who had come here just before him were dead, he couldn’t believe that the monster had just waited by idly until they wasted away. Why did it refuse to face him as well? Its size was formidable, it was armed with sharp teeth and claws, and Jack was only armed with a spear. Soldiers with better strength and weapons had come in before him, so how could they not have won? There was obviously something that made the monster hesitate, but he couldn’t figure it out. It could jump out and attack him whenever it wished to, but it hadn’t, as if it was worried about something Jack possessed. 

Jack Frost continued walking, turning back and lunging at the creature whenever it grew close to him. It was like a predator waiting for its prey to grow weak, but Jack had never seen such an occurrence, so there was only one thing he could really compare it to. In one of the cities he had visited, he fed a stray dog at the docks; there weren’t any of those in the city, the only canines being hunting dogs or farm dogs. The dog had followed him around as if expecting more food, his fellow soldiers had flung rocks at it to make it run off, but it always returned. The dog would have followed him on the ship if he’d allowed it, but he didn’t want to bring it back to a land like his. The monster was acting quite like that, following him at a distance and retreating when threatened with violence. 

Finding a secret place to sleep would be a waste of time if the thing he was trying to hide from knew where it was, and since it refused to fight him, he didn’t see any purpose in letting it continue to trail after him. Glancing back behind him one more time, he turned a corner, breaking into a run as soon as he had. There were no places for him to turn into to make it lose his trail, nowhere to hide, he could only go along the same winding path. The creature was close behind him, but it recoiled again when he suddenly turned and jabbed his spear at it or used the weapon to slice. Soon it kept distant, and Jack eventually found an opening that would lead him to another part of the labyrinth. It would just take him to another incessantly long trail in which the creature could still follow easily, but he might as well still try running to it. 

The monster was still far enough, he was able to lose it for all of thirty seconds after he went around the corner, and he found a place he didn’t expect to. He could see where to go if he wanted to enter deeper into the labyrinth, but before that there was another opening that lead in the opposite direction, as if it would go outward. He slipped into the first one, almost fumbling down the stairs he did not suspect were there, and waited. He watched as the creature went storming past, its many eyes not even glancing in the place he had gone through, as if it were only a part of the wall. 

In here was much darker than it was out there, no cracks in the ceiling for light to leak through, he couldn’t see beyond the first few steps. Putting a hand against the wall, he began to descend, carefully making each step in his blindness, making sure he would not fall into some trap. It was not a steep stairway, more like a natural slope in the ground that had steps carved into it. Once he made it past the many steps, he was on flat ground again, holding out his spear in front of him to feel any obstacles in the air while his feet were still cautious in where they stepped. His spear point hit something hard and he stopped, moving forward with a hand, he deduced that he had met a wall. He became discouraged for a moment, having thought he might have found some safe place to rest and recuperate, and the darkest part of the labyrinth was hardly a sanctuary from a shadow beast. Running his hand along the wall, he noticed that it was not stone like the rest of the labyrinth, but _metal_.

Continuing to feel the metal, he tried to locate any other difference, his fingers slid through a slim hole in it, feeling a sort of foliage on the other side. Shoving the small point of his spear through, he maneuvered it to cut and tug at the plant. After a bit of this, he saw something come from the hole that he did not expect. _Light_. It was dim and reached no farther than the light in the rest of the labyrinth, but there was a significant difference between the two sources. The light elsewhere was high above Jack, far beyond his reach, but he could touch this surface, and perhaps find a way through to the other side. There were a few more holes like that one in the metal, but what interested him more was the fact that the metal was not shaped to the wall, he could feel a curve in its shape, and even creases along its edge. Something dusty came off of the edge, he held it up to the light to see that it was rust, meaning he might be able to break through if it was weak enough. 

Using the pointed tip of his spear, he began to trail the outline with it, digging it in between the stone and metal, he did this several times, feeling his spear go in deeper with each try. Suddenly, it hitched up on a normally smooth path, and Jack fell forward against the metal. His spear clattered to the floor as the opening it had been jammed in grew, light spilling through and outlining the metal. By then Jack knew it wasn’t just a hunk of metal, but a door, one that led to the outside. He placed his spear up against the wall before pushing at the door again, it groaned as the old hinges began to turn. Slamming against it a few times, he managed to force it open enough to squeeze through, after slicing the plants that were in the way. 

The moonlight made the remaining black gunk on his spear vanish immediately, but Jack was far too distracted by the sight before him to notice. He was standing on a large pile of rocks and stones of all sizes, and just beyond that he saw a long stretch of sand that lead out to the ocean. The only signs of civilized life he found was a cow’s skull, which was home to a crab, and he immediately knew where he was. Looking up, he saw a cliff above him, it was a place no one was allowed to go. Any animals lead there threw themselves off of the cliff in panic to crash into the rocks below, now he knew why. Part of the labyrinth branched out underneath it, and all animals avoided being above the place, it was rare to even see birds fly over the city. 

The only way to reach where he was at now was down the cliff, along the rocks that piled up to it, the climb didn’t look very hard, especially if one was to climb up, or by boat. As the cliff was a forbidden and feared place and the only boats they owned would not be used for petty exploration of small beaches on the island, he could see why no one ever found this entrance. Jack wanted to scale the rocks, to run to the city and tell his family that he was safe. That would be foolish, though, he couldn’t make it into the city without passing by a guard, and his return would be known by all. It wasn’t that he was worried he would be called a coward, he planned to return to fight the monster after all, but the priests might see something wrong in that. It was better if they suspected he had been killed, then they would hold off the next sacrifice longer, and give Jack time to kill the monster before that happened.

He could see that the door was huge, larger across than it was up and down, he was sure that a horse and carriage could fit through by the size of it. Using his spear to cut through the ivy, a type he had never seen before, he moved aside plant and stone to make it so he could open it all of the way, he pulled it open, being met with a sound that was a mix of a shriek and a hiss. Just beyond the door, the monster waited, the moon lighted the interior in the shape of the door, the once dark area now glowing. The creature lunged, but it hit the light like a wall, some parts of it even dissolving as it tried to reach past. Not even a shadow made it beyond the circle of light, the creature continued its fruitless task until Jack Frost stepped back inside. He thought he saw the eyes of the beast widen in surprise, but he didn’t pursue the thought of it showing emotions so human. 

“This is the last that I ever leave the labyrinth while you still live.” Jack announced, slamming the smaller end of his spear into the ground for emphasis as he glared. The moon was high behind him, making his hair seem whiter and his armor shine in the light. The monster grinned. 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

It had expected Jack to scream, to jump, have at least a smidge of fear when he woke up to find its mouth inches away from his face, but he had attacked instead. His weapon never hurt, it was more of an annoyance than anything, but even that didn’t keep the human from trying to attack. Still the monster kept its distance, for each attack it didn’t retaliate the boy would grow more suspicious. It did not want Jack Frost to realize that it could not harm him either, at least not yet, nor did it want him figuring out why he was so safe. The boy was already fool enough.

No matter how gruesome or haunting the remnants of a dead human had been laid out, Jack didn’t bat an eyelid at them. He walked past them with no fear in his heart, and he turned to assault the creature behind him as if it were any other enemy. The human was lost, he had no hope to harm the monster, and he was surrounded by promises of how he would die. How was he still not afraid?

The monster had been so engrossed in watching Jack, in trying to find any scrap of fear to latch onto, that he didn’t realize where the one in front of him was heading. The center of the labyrinth was in this direction, and when he took off running toward it, the beast did the same, planning to stop him in whatever way it could without him being afraid. 

The center of the labyrinth was the same as it had been left, he did not see the human at all or any signs that he had been here. Still, it searched, checking to see if something had been missed, if Jack Frost had eluded its detection through his lack of fear. Before it could think of where else he could have gone, he got his answer through another sense than that of fear. There was light where there had been none in centuries, and it knew where Jack had gone.

The door was already open when it arrived, and the human was gone, the crack that allowed the light to shine in was just wide enough for him to have slipped through. A deep feeling of dread overtook the creature, no human had ever escaped the labyrinth, and no human had ever remained fearless in it. It was a sign of the end for him, or at least the beginning of it. The humans would grow bolder, they would try to remain fearless as he did, and might succeed in doing so if they knew of this exit. It would not happen overnight, the humans would take several decades before they began to shift into the mindset of the warrior. Decades did not mean much to a being that wasn’t constrained by time. It moved toward the door, deciding to close it, and to somehow make a barrier between it and the rest of the labyrinth.

Its plans were interrupted as it heard noises on the other side, it couldn’t be anyone but the human that had just left. It listened to try and figure out what he was doing, there was the sound of shifting rocks, of trimmed plants, the scuffling of shoes and the clang of his steel weapon against the metal door. Then the door was pushed open, the sliver of light turning into a large pool on the ground, driving back the monster. It hissed in pain, recoiling from the moonlight as its home and refuge grew even smaller. Upon seeing the human, it lunged, as if it could grab him and drag him back in, the light wouldn’t let him get close, but it kept trying. He couldn’t be allowed to leave, he couldn’t taint the fear he had crafted into the society above, and he could not keep the humans from offering sacrifices.

The boy was an idiot, it knew, stupid and careless, but his next motions made the monster freeze, the two eyes on its large head widening. It did not think that he would return, there was still no fear in the human as he spoke, even though his words were threatening, the vice was for Jack Frost, not the monster. It found itself glad for the first time that Jack was such a fool, that he thought it possible to kill it. It responded with a wide grin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Coming up... actual conversation!


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Still no internet, but I don't need it to write, just to post! So sorry if it takes a bit for me to respond to any comments. It's lovely coming on and seeing that people like this enough to kudo it/ say something!

The light that came in from the door became Jack’s refuge, he did not sleep through the night entirely, but no matter where he went in the labyrinth he made sure he could find his way back. It was not like a maze where getting lost was common, but one wrong turn could have him walking for hours if he didn’t catch his mistake quickly enough. He hardly ever ran into the monster, it wasn’t even following him anymore, though he did experience nightmares whenever he slept, something even his blanket of moonlight did not protect him from. That blanket shifted to one of sunlight, a perk was that it was warmer, but he did it because sacrifices always came at night, and the next one after him came much sooner than expected.

It had been one of the nights that Jack had chosen to stay awake, to wander the labyrinth in search of the elusive creature, his purpose to kill it never faltering. The screams he heard were definitely human, and nearby, but the way of the labyrinth made it so a short distance took an unnecessarily long amount of time to reach, and when he reached the human the screaming had stopped. He saw the monster over its kill, claws sunk into the human’s chest, and he attacked. 

His attacks did nothing besides splatter more of the creature’s blackness over the body, but the monster did not defend what it had caught. It didn’t seem agitated, only annoyed if anything, by Jack’s constant attempts to drive it away. It did begin to move away, but it was dragging the corpse after it across the ground at a snail’s pace. Jack grabbed at it, pulling on the human’s arm as hard as he could, and then promptly falling back on his rear. Taking away the monster’s prize had been far too easy, he would have gotten more resistance from a child, so he could only think that it wanted him to take it. 

The body had once been an old man, just as the other humans in here the fear that struck him was etched into his features. The wounds on his chest, the ones Jack took as the cause of death, were far too shallow to have killed the man so quickly. He couldn’t have bled out because there was little blood to accompany the injuries, and they were the only wounds on the body. How did he die then? Jack took to wondering once more. Did the monster have some sort of toxin it injected? Perhaps one he was immune to? That thought was quickly ruled out. Though it explained why it didn’t attack Jack, it had never given him as much as a cut to test if he could be poisoned. 

The most plausible cause of death came to his mind, even if it did nothing to explain to Jack why he had yet to be harmed. This human was aged, many in their community never dreamed of growing so old, and not many stayed that way as the elderly were perfect candidates for sacrifice. It was highly likely that he had been so filled with terror that his old heart had given out, the elderly were often frail in many ways, and that was the best option Jack could think of. When he looked to the monster, it was gone, and Jack’s confusion shifted to more pressing matters. It had only been a week since he had come down, and not even two of those since the sacrifices before him. The warrior had not expected there to be any more sacrifices for at least half of a moon, and where he was he could not question why this man had been sent to die. 

Though Jack was a soldier, trained to kill and defend, he was still kind and selfless at heart, and he didn’t have the ability to think as those who had a lack of morality. The monster had been giving him nightmares, and those affected the upper world. It was not so much, they were just normal nightmares, not the kind to cause madness or fear of sleep. The priests did not hesitate to come to the conclusion that the monster was displeased, perhaps by them sending a warrior, and they had immediately decided to offer an earlier sacrifice as an attempt to appease it. It was assumed that Jack was dead, that he had failed, so they quickly went back to catering to the needs of the monster below. 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

After that night, Jack had begun patrolling the labyrinth when the moon was high, he would go to each of the entrances to the labyrinth, listening all of the time for the sound of the cage hitting the ground that marked an arrival. He had to make it to any sacrifices before the monster did, if he could not kill it, he could protect anyone that came in from it and lead them to the exit. The hours often went uncounted as they passed, the light that came from the cracks above looked the same during the night and day, and to one that was so used to looking to the sky for guidance, the constant rock above him did nothing to mark the time. 

When he became too disorientated, he returned to the door, one glance outside was enough for him to gain his bearings again. The steps were much easier to go down after it had been opened, even though he couldn’t see the exit from the top, he could see the glow of the natural light that came in. As he walked, he had to squint, the brilliance of the moon hurting his eyes that were so used to darkness. As he took the final step down, he froze, stunned by the silhouette of a man in front of him. His eyes were more sensitive to the moonlight than he thought, for he could make out no distinct features on the human, he almost looked like a standing shadow against the moonlight in front of him.

 _Why’s he just standing there? How’d he get here?_ Jack only thought on this a moment before thinking it didn’t really matter. He was here now and there was no sign that the monster had caught on to there being another human, he was only steps away from freedom and Jack had to make sure he made it out. 

“You should hurry and leave, before the monster finds you.” Jack told him, “It’s an easy climb up the cliff and back to the city.”

The being had been unaware of his presence and slowly turned his head to look at him, Jack had to rub his eyes to make sure he wasn’t seeing things. The half of the face that he could see was definitely human, though it looked like it fit in the labyrinth better than out in the world. It was corpselike, with gaunt features, an eye large and sunken into the face and surrounded by dark shadows, its cheekbones were quite visible beneath the flesh. The more he looked at it, the less human it seemed, there was everything needed to make half a human face, mouth, nose, ear, and eye, but the skin was grey and the eye was definitely not human. It was yellow with a black slit for a pupil, more reptilian than anything, though it couldn’t adequately be compared to the eye of any living creature.  
Before Jack could come to any conclusions, the one he was examining turned around, proving that he was undoubtedly the monster. The half of his spiked up black hair dissolved into the darkness that made up most of his body, the other half of his face was black and shifting like the creature he had known, the numerous eyes on it were slanted up high and though a few of them had similar pupils to the eye on the more human face, they still appeared to be made more of light than actual eyeballs. Where the thin human mouth ended on one side, enough teeth for both mouths were on the darker side, they were unrestrained by lips and the shape of that mouth curved down and up, sharp teeth forming a twisted grin. The monster walked past him, the human side giving him a disapproving look while the other half shifted about randomly. The rest of his form was similar to the body that its less human shape held, shadows that merged in feathery and uneven patterns, though there were fewer eyes on the lower part of its body, and even without the extra arms and legs there were still a couple spindly, insect-like shadow limbs coming out of the monster’s body, though they twitched in and out frequently and seemed to hold no purpose. 

Even stranger was that the body looked more like clothing than anything, not by appearance but the way the monster moved and its shape. As he walked, he could see the movement of legs beneath the lower part of, what could be called, the robe, but he didn’t see so much as a foot sticking out. The arm shapes were more obvious, but all he could see beyond the end of the ‘sleeves’ were two human hands, they were grey with long and thin fingers, but definitely human. There was the definitive shape of shoulders, and while he could see no part of his neck, it appeared that he wore a high collar that blended in to the less human half of his face.

Jack’s first thought was that the monster had possessed a body somehow, or tore off pieces of one to wear, but he saw no purpose in it. Even though the human parts looked so out of place, they seemed to fit the monster perfectly. The half of the face showed more expression in a few seconds than he had seen of the creature in all the times they had met before, it had really only grinned, and as its face was stuck in a constant grin it wasn’t much of a change. Jack also couldn’t see why the monster would take human hands to replace its clawed ones. This form seemed more solid than the rest of them, so Jack decided to do the first thing that came to mind.

The monster stopped at the top of the steps, looking down at the spear point that was sticking out of the front of his abdomen. He turned his head around enough for the human half of the face to give Jack a look that showed he was not impressed or amused by the attempt. Jack frowned back, pulling out the spear and marking it as another failed attempt, there was only a thin layer of the black substance stuck on his spear, and he noticed that there really wasn’t much coming from the creature as he walked, though the shadows seemed drawn to him and their darkening made it seem like they were pooling at his feet. Following after, he tried to do something he or anyone else hadn’t properly attempted; he talked to the monster. 

“What were you doing down there? Were you trying to block the exit?” he asked, the monster didn’t so much as slow his pace. “Can you even understand me?” It really seemed like the monster had understood him, but as people were prone to think animals could understand them based on their reactions alone, he didn’t want to make a false assumption. “Can you speak?” The monster had only said one thing to him, and whether or not he was just repeating something was unclear. “Or do you just growl and roar?”

“Can _you_ speak, or do you just stab and let out squeaky little war cries?” This voice was different than the one he had used before, it was not quite as harsh, but there was still a sinister undertone to it. Jack didn’t mind this voice too much, the earlier one made it sound like the monster was trying too hard to be scary, and this one didn’t grate his nerves.

“At least I don’t sound like a cat that got its tail stepped on when I attack.” Jack moved to the monster’s side, his shield held closest to the monster in case he had to block an attack. He had a habit of disappearing around corners, and Jack wanted to keep that from happening or see just how it was that he vanished. 

“Have you even _seen_ a cat, human?”

“Yeah. They eat the rodents in the fields and they’re all over the place in other cities.” he replied, taking a moment to think of how odd it was that he was conversing with the monster so casually. It had been days since the first sacrifice after him, and he hadn’t been able to say a word to the human. Jack was almost constantly surrounded by people he could talk to, either on a ship or in the barracks, and back home he loved to hang around his sister and all the kids that were eager to listen to his stories. He couldn’t remember the last time he had spent more than a couple of hours without any company, and even that long was uncommon. In here, there was no one, it was unnaturally silent as it was, he was lucky if he heard muffled sounds from the city above. He could hear no birds, couldn’t feel the wind or listen to its heavy gusts, he could go to the door to listen to the world outside, but he wasn’t going to let himself be distracted by nostalgia when there were people to save. Right now he was keeping an eye on the monster and conversing with someone, though the monster seemed slightly annoyed by it, he was still talking and not ignoring him. “’Human’ is a pretty general term.”

“You are the only human here capable of speaking, it should not be too difficult for you to realize I am not talking to a corpse.”

“I have a name.”

“What is it?” The question was asked with such disinterest that Jack didn’t think the other cared about the answer at all. His voice was still haunting, even Jack could tell this without being scared, and any name spoken would most likely sound like a threat. There was no humor in the voice at all, and the human expression hadn’t done so much as smile, and to Jack that part of him seemed to show the most truth in how he was actually feeling.

“Gerbly Piddlewanker.” Jack answered, his own voice straight and humorless along with his expression to match the monster. He was given an odd look, and he could only guess that the monster had caught on to his jest. 

“… So be it, Gerbly Piddlewanker, if you prefer that title to being called ‘human’.” Jack couldn’t believe it, the monster was completely serious, he had said the name as if it were normal. The human was having difficulty remaining composed. 

“That’s not… you didn’t pronounce it right.” 

“What part? Gerbly or Piddlewanker?” Gods he was still serious, the fact that he looked bored by the entire conversation only made it funnier to Jack. 

“The last name.”

“Is that what you want me to refer to you as? Piddlewanker?” Jack could only manage a nod, “Well then, Piddlewanker, your name will quickly be forgotten to all but me and your family. The Piddlewanker name will not go down in history as you seem to delude yourself into thinking that you can cause harm to me. The rest of the Piddlewankers will mourn for their poor dead Gerbly-“ 

Jack Frost couldn’t hold back the laughter anymore, and even the multitude of eyes on the less expressive side of the monster’s face widened in disbelief. He didn’t understand why he was laughing, it was a sound that he hated no matter the circumstance, and he thought that speaking the human’s name would have brought more fear than anything. He didn’t find what he was saying to be funny at all, he couldn’t recall the last human’s name he had ever heard, and that had been decades ago, the kind of names humans had could have easily changed since then. 

“What do you find so amusing, Piddlewanker?” he hissed at him, only making Jack laugh harder, he glowered angrily, waiting for an answer. He never had the intention to make any human laugh, and he wanted to know what he had done to prevent himself from repeating the mistake. 

“ _Stop_ \- Just… that’s not my-“ Jack wheezed, trying to straighten out, “Did you- Do you _seriously_ think that’s my name?” 

“Yes.” The monster bristled, in Jack’s next round of laughter he figured out what the human had done. “I fail to see what is so comical about me calling you a name that is not yours.” 

“…You think that… you think that’s a normal name?” He didn’t need an answer to know that the monster did, and he had to use his spear to keep from falling over from laughter. “If you think I wasn’t afraid of you _before_.” The fact that he had said it so many times, in that once very menacing voice, was enough to bring fits of laughter, but that he didn’t understand the joke made it even harder for him to keep quiet. 

The last thing Jack said seemed to anger the monster more than anything else he had done, and he finally turned to walk away, rage etched into both sides of his face, even his body looked agitated. More pieces of it were spiking up and extra fluid was flowing out of him, some of it even breaking past the barrier between his face and hands. Jack recovered in time to keep him from making his escape, getting scowled at as he moved back to the monster’s side. 

“What about you?” 

“What _about_ me?” His voice had grown more animalistic, and he could see more of the blackness creeping over the human part of his face. 

“Your name.”

“You won’t even give me your real name, I have no reason to offer you that courtesy.” 

“Jack Frost. That’s my real name. Honest.” He told him, not at all bothered by how the other was seething. “Now tell me yours.” 

“Jack Frost…” he repeated, eyes boring into Jack as if to assess whether or not this was another joke, his angered look grew softer and the human decided that he actually believed him. Not the smartest move in his opinion, Jack was almost sorry that he didn’t try giving him another ridiculous name, but then he wouldn’t have gotten anything out of the monster if he fooled him again. “I don’t have a name.” Was the disappointing answer, and the monster moved on past Jack. 

“No name?” Jack kept up after him, “Not even a common nickname? What about Ugly? Twitchy? What am I supposed to call you? Some people say you’re Erebus, but I think you’re too light to be that.” He got no response. “Fine, I’ll make up a name for you. Like Eyeballs or something.” Jack thought himself very adept at giving nicknames, either to his friends or just strangers he saw from afar, the latter didn’t usually get very flattering ones. 

“You may call me whatever you wish to. Just do not expect me to respond.” 

A demeaning name probably wouldn’t work out, not if he wanted the monster to actually take the nickname, which ruled out most of them. Watching the monster, he went through several names, many that were fitting to name a pet. Thinking back to all he had experienced with the monster, he came up with one that seemed to work perfectly. 

“I’ve got it.” The monster continued to look uninterested. “Pitch.” Jack didn’t think it would get a reaction, it wasn’t insulting enough for that, but the monster stopped walking and turned to stare at Jack. 

“Pitch…?” he said, as if there were more to the name that Jack was leaving out, there was a flicker of some emotion across half of the face, but the human couldn’t figure out exactly what it was.

“Just Pitch. Like the sticky, black gunk, it’s messy and gets all over you if you touch it. I figure it’s perfect for you.” 

“That name is… acceptable.” Pitch glanced away again, his voice was flat, but as all the anger had gone out of it Jack decided that meant he liked it.

“Great. I need to give the scholars a name for when they record how I killed you and saved the city.” 

“This name will be known to only you and I. Any who come here will die, and you will never leave this labyrinth, not even as a corpse.” 

“Oh, so you _are_ going to kill me. I couldn’t really tell. Why haven’t you done it yet?” Jack’s body was tense, he was trying to coax the monster into fighting him, so he had to be ready when he attacked. Preparing for that, however, had him with both feet firmly on the ground, and he was unable to catch up before Pitch flitted around the corner. With the monster gone and the silence returned, the only thing Jack could really do was start up his patrol again. 

*~*~*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

In the center of the labyrinth there was not a shred of natural light, even as the monster sat alone all of the glowing eyes were either closed or reduced to thin lines. Its claw moved in a monotonous pattern against the wall, for hours it had been doing the same movement, and just recently had it begun to break through the stone enough for his work to be shown. 

The human was a pest, he had never met any creature that could last a fraction of the time in the labyrinth that Jack had. Any who managed to get into the labyrinth without being afraid had that remedied as soon as they saw him. Very few attacked, but all who did were scared when they did so and were easily brought down. The only human before Jack that had not been frightened by his appearance had been a blind one, and he had easily used sound to inspire fear instead. Nothing seemed to work on Jack Frost.

Even his nightmares were useless, just as Jack fought him whenever he showed himself, he attacked the nightmares. Instead of being afraid in a nightmare, he would battle as if he were not helplessly stuck in sleep. The nightmares were the monster’s realm, he could do whatever he liked to those who were experiencing them. Jack didn’t play along, though, he was more intent on breaking apart the nightmares than anything, he never gave in to them, asleep or awake he didn’t feel fear. 

A small bit of rock gave way, turned to dust by the repeated motions of the monster’s talon as it scraped the wall. What was slowly being written were the letters of the name that Jack Frost had given to him, they were not the only marks on the wall but they were the first letters to be written coherently.

Something about the name had resounded in the monster, in a way that he had never thought a name would. It wasn’t the reason that Jack had picked the name, something he must have believed was such a clever thing, but something deeper. The name sounded right, like it truly was his, or at least part of his actual name. The monster didn’t have a name, though, not one it remembered. There was much that Pitch did not remember, no memories haunted him or ghosted at the surface of his thoughts. He didn’t even remember that he had forgotten anything. Pitch wanted to write down this name so he could never forget it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Soon to come... more violence!


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long to put up! Had more issues than just internet... but the internet is up again, horrah!

The next victim came sooner than Jack would have liked, he knew the priests often changed up the pattern of sacrifice to keep anyone from hiding away, but he had never heard of them sending out so many in such a short amount of time. The warrior was near enough to the entrance to hear when it was opened, he watched for signs of the monster as he hurried toward it, arriving just when the opening was resealed, leaving a young man in the darkness. Jack held a finger to his lips, bidding the other to be quiet as he took his hand, leading him through the twists of the labyrinth. He knew how to get to the exit, and the monster was nowhere to be seen, as long as they went quick and silent, he knew he could get the other male out. He stayed in the front to check for the monster, weapon ready in his hand and shield strapped to his back. 

Jack released the man’s hand once they made it to the end of the first twisting path, motioning for him to stay where he was. He stepped out into the hall that led to another part of the labyrinth and another exit, checking to see if the monster was there or had been recently. His inspection showed the coast was clear, but a piercing scream came from where the man was before Jack had the chance to turn back around. He ran to where he had left the villager, not stopping even upon seeing that he was no longer there and that there were black splatters all around. As he went round the third turn, he saw the monster was pinning down the human, clawed hands and tendrils holding him to the ground as the giant mouth was stretched open, as if he were about to bite off the shrieking man’s head.

“Pitch!” Jack threw his spear, it went straight through the monster’s eye and body, the small point hitting the stone wall beyond Pitch uselessly. He did not pause after, running towards the two, shield in his arms as he moved between the monster and his prey. He crouched over the human, shield up, keeping the jaws from coming closer and biting down. The monster didn’t advance at all, he didn’t even seem to notice Jack or the shield shoved in his face. The monster was taking in heavy breaths, like he had done before when Jack tried to fight him, but these were much deeper. It sounded like the monster was had been submerged underwater for too long, he didn’t exhale between the drawn out inhales, sucking in air as a suffocating creature would, but he acted calm throughout his breathing. It felt to Jack as if air was being drawn through him, a cold chill that was entering the monster’s mouth, it was not as physically cold as it was emotionally, it was like nothing he had ever felt before. It made him feel like he wasn’t even there, like he was a thin wall filled with holes. The man continued screaming below Jack, but the sound grew weaker with each scream, until the man grew completely still and silent. 

“No!” Still holding up the shield, Jack turned his head and part of his body to look down at the man that was now frozen in horror. His eyes were wide, arms held down still by the monster, but he didn’t so much as twitch; Jack knew death when he saw it, but he found it hard to believe. There was a quiet sniffing above him, like a whisper compared to the gusting sound that had come from the monster at first, and he looked up at him past his shield. He swore that the other looked a bit confused, head tilted just the slightest, and the monster didn’t move for a few seconds. When he did, his clawed hands came off of the still body, tugging at Jack’s arm and shield lightly, the human broke away easily from his grasp, hurrying over to his weapon, which was now completely covered in what the monster was currently dripping. 

The monster had lost interest in him again, instead taking hold on the corpse, lifting it off the ground slowly and delicately. Jack lunged again, letting out a cry of rage as he sliced at the monster’s arms, swinging his weapon at him until he managed to agitate the creature, he hissed and jerked forward toward Jack, but never attacked. When he got the monster a distance away from the body, he went over to it, looking for the wound that Pitch had inflicted on the human. Unlike the other human, there was not a single scratch on this one, besides a few scrapes on his arms and legs, all of which he knew were self-inflicted from his thrashing. He searched as thoroughly as he could, even checking under clothing for any wounds he had missed; Jack had to pause his investigation every so often to chase off the monster when he crept closer. In the end, the conclusion was baffling, it appeared that this human had died the same way that the first one had. This one was much younger, though, he was fit, and even though he had been scared upon entering the labyrinth, he hadn’t been paralyzed with fear or even trembling from it. So how was it that this man had died from fear as well? 

_Fear._

Neither of his victims had been harmed fatally while living, even the corpses around the labyrinth that were maimed did not necessarily have had to die in that way. The monster had failed to put even a scratch on him all the times they fought, he never seemed to try it, only threaten to. Pitch was also far from substantial, he had never felt force from him, he almost seemed to be weak physically. He thought back to the monster’s first words to him, how it had known he was not afraid and told him that he soon would be, and he thought of how he seemed to be offended when Jack said he wasn’t scary. Jack knew that he wasn’t scared, he didn’t think it mattered beyond his performance in battle, but down here it was worth much more than he could have imagined.

“Fear, right?” Jack asked, “You hurt people with fear.” The monster didn’t respond, only staring at him. From the way he had acted before, avoiding his attacks even though they did nothing, he guessed that the monster hadn’t wanted him to know that he was immune to harm as long as he was fearless. “That’s why you can’t hurt me.” It was obvious that he wasn’t going to get an answer from the monster unless he forced it out of him. Jack threw down his spear, then his shield, keeping eye contact with the monster the entire time. “Go ahead, prove me wrong, Pitch.” Jack took a few steps forward, his arms calmly at his sides, “Attack me if you can.” It was a risk without his shield or weapon, but Jack didn’t think of it as that, he was sure that he was right, so he had nothing to be afraid of. 

Pitch suddenly ran at him, pouncing with a loud roar, his spines sticking straight up, eyes wild, his mouth open wide enough to swallow Jack whole, the teeth jagged and menacing. His limbs were all aimed in Jack’s direction, gnarled talons poised to gouge and puncture, dark liquid spurting behind him as he propelled forward. Jack didn’t even blink as the other lunged, standing firmly with his gaze locked on Pitch. The monster landed directly in front of him, his hands flat on the ground in front of and behind Jack, his long body scrunched up at in the back from the sudden stop. Roaring again, he sent drops of black fluid onto Jack, his mouth open over the human in a way that looked like he could easily snap him in half. But Pitch didn’t, he couldn’t, and now Jack knew it. 

“You’re all show.” he said, letting out a sound of frustration as he turned away from the frightening display, “I can’t believe it! You’ve been killing people by making scary faces at them!” Jack picked up his shield and spear, putting the shield on his back and holding his weapon casually, as he didn’t need it unless he chose to be the one to attack. “That has to be the stupidest, most pathetic- Gods, you must be a laughingstock to other monsters!” 

“It works, doesn’t it?” Jack looked back to Pitch, seeing he was in his more human form, as if his body realized he wouldn’t be scaring the human. Even in this form, though, the way he looked equally monstrous and human was sure to be unnerving to most. 

“Not on me. I’m not afraid of you.” 

“But you are afraid of something.” This time, the human half of the face grinned as well, glancing to the fresh corpse before moving out of sight. Jack knew that it wasn’t worth the effort to chase after him, he was already gone. 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The new revelation was not worth as much as Jack had hoped it would, knowing not to be afraid was one thing, actually being unafraid was another. Several more of the sacrifices came in, Jack made it to most of them before Pitch did, but he hadn’t been able to save any of them. He explained to them that the monster couldn’t hurt them if they weren’t afraid of him, that he knew how to get out of here, that he would protect them and lead them to the exit. None of his assurances mattered when Pitch would make his appearance. 

Jack Frost was never frustrated by their fear, it wasn’t their fault. His anger was always directed at Pitch, he was the one making them afraid and killing them for it. At first Jack didn’t understand how he could hold down thrashing humans with how flimsy his limbs were, how he lacked the power to even move a dead human with greater force and speed than Jack could. It took him a few failed attempts at getting the human away from Pitch before he knew how, it was the fear. The fear didn’t make Pitch stronger, but when someone was afraid, being ensnared by something as weak as seaweed or thread could feel like a thick rope holding them down if they let panic set in. 

Pitch couldn’t do anything to Jack, but he found that he was far less threatening to the monster than it had seemed before. Swinging his weapon at him did nothing but dirty it, Pitch no longer had to try and hide how he couldn’t attack, and he was never forced away by the spear, only when he chose to move himself would he avoid the weapon. Whenever he was feeding, he acted as if Jack weren’t there, he could slash, stab, kick, no hits ever swayed the monster, and he only took notice of the human’s presence after he had finished his kill. 

Jack knew that he was completely safe from Pitch, so he slept wherever he liked and went about the labyrinth without his guard up. It was better if he was relaxed, there was less of a chance of something startling him, and if he was prepared to be attacked at any moment, it could turn to paranoia and fear. He wasn’t going to let the monster win, he wouldn’t even play his game. When he wasn’t patrolling for possible sacrifices, he spent his time productively. It was a grim job that he did, but it kept him busy, and he hoped that it would help anyone who came down here. The idea first came to him when he had stumbled upon the monster while he was engrossed with a human’s corpse.

Pitch didn’t notice him, but it wasn’t in the same way he disregarded Jack when he was devouring fear, he just seemed to be absorbed in his work and had yet to realize he was being watched. The large monster’s long snout was closed tight, his face set in concentration, it would be a bit amusing if it weren’t for what he was working on. His long claw slipped into a deep cut he had made, and when the skin opened up like a peeled fruit, Jack saw the cuts were not random gashes, but were carefully placed openings in the human’s chest and abdomen. It wasn’t like anything Jack had watched, he had seen animals butchered, but never in such a calm and eerie way, he was stunned for a moment just seeing it. One of the smaller hands reached into the stomach while the flaps of skin were held in place by other claws, when it came out slowly with an intestine held in his hand, Jack gained the ability to speak. 

The monster was only slightly surprised by his demands to know what he was doing, only because he hadn’t known that he was being observed. Jack’s belligerence vanished when he got his answer. It was not because Pitch’s voice, he rarely heard him speak in his larger form, it always came out as a roar when he did, nor was it because of the guts that were still being drawn out. It was the answer that Pitch had given him, he called it ‘decorating’, the way he said it made it sound like how anyone else would say the word, like what he was doing was normal. It wasn’t an attempt to scare him, it was the truth. He had seen bodies pinned to the wall using their own bones, even the way that the dead were lain out and displayed on the floor were set out to cause horror, rather than just left where they had fallen. Pitch wanted to scare people before they even saw him, for them to look upon the tortured remains of those before them and fear the same happening to them. 

Jack Frost began cleaning up the messes that Pitch made, he couldn’t get rid of what remained of the humans, there were too many bones and nowhere to put them. He took clothing from them, covered up his piles, tried to keep them from sight. Whenever Pitch saw any of his work, he ruined them, but Jack found them to be sloppy attempts, it took Pitch longer to orchestrate a horrific scene than it took for Jack to pick one up. He found many items on corpses, he hadn’t expected to find anything he could make use of, but he quickly went beyond just hiding away everything.

Some people had thought to bring food, like he had, though he had only brought enough dried meat to last a couple weeks (if he stretched it out to the absolute minimum he could live on). There was very little that Jack could actually eat, some nuts, a few other types of dried food, but not enough to give him a few more days of eating. The biggest break he got was when a bunch of rats had been dumped down into the labyrinth, he managed to kill all of them before the monster could arrive. It had been a while since there had been any sacrifices, and the monster had become enraged upon seeing that Jack had taken this meal from him. 

Getting water was more difficult, the best chance he ever had was when it rained outside, water would leak out through some of the cracks in the ceiling, but it was easier to get access to it outside. He used old armor he found along with anything that could serve as a bowl, save for human skulls as the monster suggested he should use, to catch the water from just beyond the door. He had a waterskin, but it wasn’t much for catching water unless it was placed just right. He normally used it to catch the most constant source of water, below one of the village’s well a drop of water fell through into the labyrinth. It had fallen so many times that the hard ground below had actually been marked by the drop, but the indent was only the size of a fingerprint. He would carefully set up his waterskin to catch this drop, but even a day of this never led to much water, and it was common for it to tip over and stop catching water when he left it. 

He hadn’t come down here to forage, though, he had come down here to kill the monster, or at least to protect anyone who came down here. Any spare weapons or armor he found, he put near the entrances to the labyrinth. If people thought that they could defend themselves or fight against the monster, they might be able to get out of the labyrinth without fear. Unlike the hiding of bodies, Pitch didn’t mess with the way he set up arms for the sacrifices to come, either he didn’t care or he didn’t realize what they were for.

Jack tried to busy himself as best as he could with preparing for new sacrifices during the time between them, but he still would seek out the monster for purposes other than trying to kill him. Pitch never seemed to mind talking with him, even though there were heavy tensions between them based on their conflicting actions, their arguments were fewer than Jack would have thought. Jack always showed more enthusiasm during their conversations, but he knew that the monster had to enjoy talking to some degree or he would not participate. Jack was not speaking to Pitch just because he was lonesome, but there was a chance that the monster might let something slip, and reveal to him a way that he could be slain.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More of Pitch's POV next... and Jamie Bennett appears.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The first part of this chapter is set in the time of the previous one, but it's the monster's POV of it.  
> Sorry this took a while to put up, but as you can see this chapter is much longer than the usual ones.

As soon as Jack Frost discovered his weakness (no, his _power_ ), Pitch did not restrain himself in attempting to attack the human in the one way he could, through fear. He was a master of fear, he knew what scared humans and the best ways to unleash fear. The only reason he had kept the truth from the warrior was that he had found a way out, and Pitch did not want humans to believe they could come in here and be safe as long as they did not fear. The monster was wholly confident in his abilities to frighten anyone, and now that the secret was out, he didn’t need to hold back on his scaring techniques. 

It was clear that the way he had placed the corpses did not strike fear into Jack’s heart, the monster was not upset by this until he found his arrangements being altered. _Jack_ may not think they were scary, but that didn’t give him a right to ruin his hard work. Bones that had been set up in a certain position, and remained that way for decades, were shoved into a pile and covered up, all his work for nothing. The monster was infuriated by this, and he could do nothing to stop Jack from doing it. All he could do is disturb his piles at every chance, any attempts to set them up as artistically as he had before were wasted as Jack took them down again. 

Pitch could understand why Jack was doing that, to try and keep people from being scared when they came in. What he didn’t understand was why he would take other items from them, beyond the armor and weapons he didn’t see what use they were. The worldly possessions of the dead were either left be or moved away carelessly by Pitch, they served no purpose in his scaring. He had never wondered why the humans brought them; toys, trinkets, sacks that jingled when disturbed, along with the variety of materials which rotted away like they were made of flesh. What would Jack want with any of this? Why was he separating these things from the bodies? 

He couldn’t spend much time pondering on this, whatever reason he had for collecting them did not matter. It just meant that Jack did not fear these things and that Pitch should avoid using them to scare him. The corpses were made useful, they made adequate props for scaring, if Jack was not afraid of them while they were still, he would surely be frightened by moving ones. So Pitch began dragging around corpses, bones, or even breaking off parts of them to search for Jack and to scare him.

A rattling of bones easily caused the warrior to turn, only to be met with a skeleton flying toward his face. Fluid would drip from above, making Jack look upward as Pitch swung a severed head like a pendulum with its spine still attached inches away from his face. He made corpses drag themselves toward Jack, once screaming mouths opening and closing with teeth clacking and grinding loudly. Jack would turn a corner and be met with a body adorned in organs falling toward him, forcing him to jump back or catch it. 

Shadows would move unnaturally, following around the warrior, forming one dimensional dark mirrors of Jack against the wall or floor. The shadow Jack Frost would have a face that no normal shadow would ever be able to form, it grinned manically, attacking other shadows that looked like ones that had belonged to the villagers he tried to save, sometimes the shadow turned on itself, slicing off its own head or impaling itself with the shadow of the spear. At times the shadows were monstrous, either turning from the human shadow to an unholy creature or they just formed at random moments to try and startle Jack. 

The monster used himself to preform scares, stalking after Jack silently, slipping out of shadows to suddenly appear. At times he tried lunging again, actually making contact with the human, but all that did was make the warrior filthy with the gunk that seeped off of the monster. Pitch changed in size, becoming larger to intimidate the human, altering his appearance to try and hit a fearful nerve. More eyes, more limbs, more spikes, larger mouth, sharper claws, anything he thought would make Jack susceptible to his powers. Pitch even changed to his more human form to speak to him, to tell him of how hopeless his mission was, to let him know how the end was inevitable for Jack. 

All he had done was enough to kill a man without his powers, the fear would be so strong that it would weaken and stop their heart. There was not a speck of fear from Jack Frost. There were two main reactions from him; apathy and anger. Pitch’s scare attempts were too morbid to get any laughs from the human. He preferred it when Jack was angered, this was mostly when he used corpses that were fresh or any remains that could have belonged to a child. Anger was far from the fear he wanted, but it was better than when the human treated him like he didn’t care. Pitch found some amusement in Jack lunging to attack him, but he hated it when he kept walking as if the other were not there at all.

The sacrifices had come to a stop for now, it had been nearly two weeks since the last, and the monster felt his hunger growing. That there was a human in his labyrinth that he could not feed on only made it worse, it was like staring at a meal you couldn’t reach. All he could do was think of ways to frighten the human, once he had then there would be nothing stopping him from feeding. 

“Not going to try and scare me today?” Pitch hated that the human could sneak up on him, it always happened when he was too deep in thought to listen for his footsteps. 

“I would hate to be so predictable.” When he looked he saw the human was leaning against his spear with a small smirk, as if the subject of scaring was something whimsical.

“Well, you are. Having a skeleton grab at my ankle is not the most original idea.” 

“Compared to what? Your society? I was down here long before your people landed here. I preceded any ideas for scares they might have thought up.” 

“That’s not what I meant. You’ve got a big ego for a slimy underground lizard.” 

“A _LIZARD_?!” Pitch half roared as the blackness covered up the rest of his body, the human shape of his face growing outward as the monstrous mouth formed, his body stretching out as the extra limbs came out. When he was fully shifted, he glared at Jack with as many eyes as he could, “YOU THINK _THIS_ LOOKS LIKE A LIZARD?!”

“Yep, cute little brown things that scurry around on rocks and eat bugs.” Jack grinned in response to the monster’s snarl. Pitch was unable to tell if he was serious or just trying to anger him, being compared to any earthly creature was an insult, but something as insignificant as a _lizard_. He looked nothing like one! “What I was trying to say, though… pretty much anyone thinks of that scare. Most any kid that walks too close to a skeleton is worried that it might suddenly grab them.”

Pitch thought this over, as he did he shrank down again to his more human form, eyeing the other curiously. “Why do you want to give me advice in scaring you?” 

“’cause I know you won’t ever be able to scare me. But I don’t want you to kill me with boredom instead.” 

Half of Pitch’s face scowled, watching as Jack walked off to do… whatever the boy occupied himself with. The monster decided to concoct a new type of scare, one that he was sure humans hadn’t thought of, just to prove Jack wrong. He spent over two hours gathering all the parts he needed for it, he had just begun to piece them together when he felt it. There was now fear inside of his labyrinth. 

It wasn’t Jack’s fear, it wasn’t even human, Pitch rushed toward the scent, quickly analyzing what it was that had been thrown into his labyrinth. Rats, there were ten of them, he could feel their panic as they sensed him as well. They wouldn’t fill him as the humans did, their fear was too instinctual and basic, far from reaching the level that humans could obtain. They were better than nothing, though, and nine rats would make his hunger lessen if only for a while.

Wait a moment… nine? No, now there were eight. _Seven._ There was no mistaking that their fear and numbers were lessening rapidly, the monster increased his pace, arriving at the entrance they had been thrown into just as Jack pierced the final rat with his spear. All of the rats were dead, killed in the same way, which explained why their fear had vanished, death was the quickest end to fear. 

A loud snarl rose in the monster’s throat, “THOSE WERE _MINE_!” 

“I didn’t see your name on them."

He shrank down as he moved closer to Jack, glaring at him with the eye on the human part of his face, as always Jack was not perturbed by the closeness of the monster. “This is _my_ labyrinth. They were sent here for me.” 

“They’re just rats.” Jack actually seemed a bit surprised that the monster was getting so upset, but he didn’t remain near him for long, instead going to pick up the small bodies.

“It has almost been half a moon cycle since the last sacrifice!” Pitch hissed, getting the human to look at him.

“You’re cranky because you’re hungry? Well, I’m hungry too. I don’t want to make these taste any worse by letting you be the one to kill them.”

Pitch’s brow furrowed, he knew that humans ate food, like animals and plants, but he didn’t know that they ate rats. The only livestock they ever sent down here were ill or had something else wrong with them, otherwise they kept their food source to themselves as he was sated with human sacrifice alone. Humans didn’t eat rats, though, that much he had been sure of until now. Why would they throw so much of their food down to him? The bones of the rodents easily outnumbered the human ones down here, which left him to believe they were worthless for the humans to consume, just as he could not consume any emotion besides fear. 

In truth, he could not recall ever seeing a human eat, he knew that they did, it was the reason they stayed on the island. The rats that lived long enough in his labyrinth ate as well, though he never saw them as they did. The animals could sense him and always fled from whatever they were doing, but he had seen corpses torn into by teeth and claws other than his own and noticed the dried gore around the muzzles of ones he had killed. He was rather curious to see what it was like, for something mammalian to eat, he had never truly wondered before because all creatures he had come upon were too afraid to eat, or do much else but run, in his presence. Jack was not afraid of him, though, and he doubted he would keep from eating just because he was watching. 

Just as quickly as the curiosity came, it was gone, the monster instead absolved not to watch Jack any longer. The only thing he should be curious about was what scared him, he didn’t need to know or understand anything else about humans. So he slunk back away to his project without another word to Jack Frost. 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Another week passed before the next sacrifice, and Pitch was beyond pleased that it was a human, and that there was no sign of Jack Frost. The child was easy to find and even easier to subdue, his fear had steadily increased upon entering the labyrinth and shot up in strength as he caught sight of the large monster. 

Pitch pinned him to the floor, a large hand on his chest as the rest of the limbs supported him and twitched about, his grin grew as the brown eyes darted around. He could hear the boy’s heart thumping beneath his palm, and his _fear_ , oh his fear was so refreshing. He breathed it in slowly, not yet pulling the life from his prey, he wanted to savor this.

“I am so pleased to have you here, child.” The voice emanated deep from his monstrous mouth, his face still as he spoke in the voice so uncommonly used in his larger form. A clawed hand brushed short brown hair out of the child’s face, causing him to flinch violently at the contact with his skin, his breath hitching up. “You’re the first visitor in ages.” Pitch knew the humans would never forget to give him sacrifices, but he was still impatient each time they took too long in sending him one. “It’s such a relief.” 

Immediately after he said those words, there was a loud sound behind him, it was a horrendous and disgustingly long noise that could only be called flatulent. His eyes widened and he slowly turned his head to see Jack Frost standing behind him, a sleeve pulled up with his mouth over the bare skin of his arm. When he lowered his sleeve down again he was grinning, walking forward as he waved his hand in front of his nose. 

“You didn’t have to relieve yourself in front of the kid, Pitch.” 

Once again, the monster did not understand the warrior’s joke or what he found humorous about the noise he had made. His stupid attempts to amuse himself didn’t matter, he would wipe that look off of his face by killing the boy in front of him. He felt his grip on the human grow weaker, and he looked down in time to see the child giggle. As if realizing his mistake, he quickly covered his mouth to smother the laughter, eyes widening. A child laughing in his presence was unheard of! He could sense his fear slowly fading away, and he himself was so shocked by it all that he didn’t notice Jack’s approach until he grabbed the child by the arm and helped him up off of the ground and away from Pitch. 

The monster could only stare after them as they walked away, completely stunned by the sudden events that had happened. It was effortless the way that Jack had taken away the other human, though the young boy still feared, it was so little that Pitch couldn’t keep his grasp firm. It wasn’t until he felt the last bit of fear vanish that he went hurtling after the others, not planning to let the boy get away with his life.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Jack Frost didn’t know if that would actually work, it was a longshot but he was glad that he had tried it, by the look on the monster’s face he doubted Pitch even knew what a fart was, or that he had made it seem like the sound originated from him. He looked to the child at his side, wondering why the monster had yet to come after the two of them, it was still a while until the exit so he had to get him there fast.

“You’re Jack Frost, right?” Jack nodded to him, the boy kept talking before he could say anything back, “Wow! I heard about you going in to fight the monster! That was so long ago, though! How’d you make it?” 

“What’s your name?” Jack asked to avoid answering, trying to think of how he could keep the boy from being afraid, he doubted that Pitch would hang back for a long, and another juvenile attempt to dispel the child’s fear might not work again. 

“Jamie Bennett!” he replied, grinning to reveal a missing tooth in the front, and Jack knew he wanted to do whatever it took to give the kid time to live and regrow that tooth. 

“Well, Jamie, I’ve got a surprise for you.” Jack grabbed something from one of the piles of supplies he had left around the labyrinth, and he stuck an oversized helmet onto Jamie’s head, hiding it and his neck entirely from view. 

“What’s this for?” Jamie tried to readjust the helmet to fit better, but it was made for a man at least twice his size. 

“The monster can’t hurt you at all while you’re wearing that.” Jack lied, “So keep it on and we can get out of the labyrinth without him getting you.” 

“Thanks! But what about you?” 

“I’m fine. I’ve got something of my own to protect me.” 

“I can’t see out of this.” 

“Then I’ll have to lead you.” Jack took Jamie’s hand, part of his plan had been to make the kid blind to everything around him. There were still bones and bodies spread around, and Jack didn’t know where they were, seeing one could cause Jamie to panic and then Pitch could attack him again. “The monster will try to get you, though. He’ll get mad about you wearing that helmet, though, so he’ll yell and make scary noises. Do you have any brothers or sisters?”

“I have a little sister!” 

“Hey, me too. Well, what does your mother do when she starts throwing a fit?”

“She just ignores her until she stops.” 

“You’ve got to do the same to the monster when he throws a fit. Also, he’ll try to tickle you.” That was the best way he could describe the way that Pitch’s touches felt. Jack was never tickled by them, but they were so light that they could be thought of as an attempt to tickle by a child. He was glad when the boy laughed at the thought. 

“What a weird monster!” 

“I know, right?” A moment later, the subject of their conversation appeared behind them, Pitch took a swipe at Jamie, making the boy twist away with a laugh. 

“He got me!” The monster recoiled at the response, though he let out a loud roar, lunging at the child again. 

“He got me too!” Jack made himself laugh, as if the monster was actually trying to attack him as well but ended up tickling him instead. “I don’t know how much more I can take! Let’s try to outrun him!” With the monster so close, Jack didn’t want to take a chance of Jamie becoming afraid. He couldn’t think of a good reason them to run before, not without making Jamie feel worried about having to escape the monster. No one really liked being tickled for long, though, and it was the perfect excuse to rush Jamie’s escape. Picking up the boy, he set him on his shoulders before he took off running, the monster was right at his heels, but he only managed to make contact with them several times.

In his haste, Jack almost fell down the stairs that led to the outside, but he managed to catch himself, his heart pounding with exertion and relief when he passed into the moonlight in front of the door. The monster was making a horrible screeching sound as he tried to get past the barrier of light, Jack opted to ignore him now that he was no longer a threat. Setting Jamie down on the patch of moonlight, he took off the helmet, his smile growing. 

“Congratulations, Jamie, you’re going to be the first person who ever made it out of the labyrinth.” Those words enraged the creature more as his thrashing increased, the sounds coming from him growing even more frightening, but that didn’t dampen the child’s spirits. 

“I am?” Jamie looked behind himself, seeing the ocean just outside the door, he turned to Jack again, his eyes bright and excited. “And it’s all thanks to you and that helmet! Can I take it with me to protect more people? Or do you need it here? Oh! Do you have more things like it? What’s yours? Is it your spear or shield?” 

The monster’s sudden silence was unexpected, even more so was the loud laughter, it took him a moment to realize that he was going to tell the child that the helmet was useless, and it was. Even if Jack convinced Jamie otherwise, it wouldn’t be a good solution. The helmet might work for some people, but others would doubt it, and it would prove to be a fake way to ward off the monster as soon as someone was afraid while wearing it. 

“It wasn’t the helmet, Jamie.” The monster’s laughter cut off immediately, Jack had decided he had to be the one to tell Jamie the truth. “It was you.” 

“Me?” Jamie looked confused, “What does that mean?”

“That’s just a normal helmet. But since you thought you couldn’t be hurt, you weren’t.” Jack couldn’t see the monster, but he was sure that he was seething. “Pitch can’t do anything to you unless you’re afraid. All he can do is tickle you, and that isn’t very scary, is it?” 

“You’re not scared of him?”

“Not one bit.”

“So I can be out of the moonlight and he can’t hurt me?” Jack nodded, “Can I try it?”

That made the warrior falter, he turned to look at the monster, even though he was constantly grinning in this form, something else about his appearance made Jack think he was pleased by this idea. It was out of the question, this was the first human he had managed to save, the first human to _ever_ get out of the labyrinth and return to a normal life. If he refused him, though, he would negate all the reassurances that he gave him and set back any plans to help his city stop fearing the monster.

“You can.” He finally said, “You just have to remember not to be afraid of him, no matter what he does, he can’t harm you unless you’re scared. Take a deep breath.” Jamie did, “And let all the fear wash away from you. Don’t think about not being scared, just don’t be scared, focus on something else if you need to.” 

Jack led Jamie to the edge of the moonlight, a hand on his shoulder as they crossed into the shadows. He kept his grip on Jamie, not being able to trust that he could keep from being afraid, Jack kept his eyes on Pitch for any shift in his mood. If he showed any increased interest in Jamie, Jack would fling the boy back into the moonlight before Pitch could try to get a hold on him. 

The monster roared again, lunging at Jamie, large teeth snapping a centimeter away from his face, but the boy only blinked. A clawed hand came down at Jamie, but it went through him, making the child’s lips twitch upward at the sensation. “He really can’t hurt me!” he informed Jack, looking back at him. The monster made a loud noise of frustration, about to attempt another attack, but grew still and silent at the next thing that Jamie did. A hand was placed on his snout, it wasn’t fear that filled the boy’s eyes, but fascination, he pulled back his hand back slowly, “Eugh.” His hand was covered with the black substance that made up Pitch’s body, but he was acting as if it were something as normal as a dog drooling on him as he pet it. 

“Let’s get that off of you.” Jack brought him back to the light and his hand was immediately clean, Jamie looked down at it before beaming at Jack, and then Pitch as he looked to him. 

“Meeting you two was a lot of fun.”

“ _FUN_?!” 

“Aw, you hurt his feelings, Jamie. He was really trying to be scary. Glad you had fun, though.” Jack straightened, leading Jamie out onto the beach. “Are you good at climbing?" Jamie hummed out a confirmation, “Just climb up those rocks and walk straight forward and you’ll find the city. Be careful where you step.” The moon illuminated the area enough that he was sure Jamie wouldn’t have trouble seeing where he was going, but he wanted to be sure that he didn’t try to rush up and slip. “Could you do something for me?”

“Sure, Frost, anything!”

“First of all; just call me Jack.” He started, “And my family… let them that I’m doing great.”

“Got it, Jack! I’ll tell them when I wake up tomorrow!” Of course he wanted to get to his own family and reassure them first. “But why can’t you come and tell them yourself?” 

“’cause I promised Pitch that I’d stay.” Jack answered, “It’d make him sad if I left.” He moved back away into the darkness, standing by the monster. It didn’t matter to Jack how the monster felt, but he thought it might make him sound less intimidating to Jamie. 

“Don’t worry, I’ll make sure that everyone knows not to be afraid of him.” That made the monster snarl, but Jack just kept listening to the other human, “And since your sister’s probably feeling lonely without you, I’ll go play with her all the time.” 

“Thanks, Jamie, that really means a lot to me.” His grin grew even more genuine, knowing that his sister would have a friend like Jamie. 

“Goodbye, Jack!” Jamie waved, then he offered a bow to Pitch, “And Black Tyrannos.” Then he moved out of their sight to start scaling the rocks. Jack blinked, not sure where the kid got that title and name from. He glanced at the monster for a moment before a grin cracked across his face and he began to laugh, suddenly getting it. 

“Pitch Black. That kid’s clever.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tyrannos is just a title for a king that ~~is a tyrant~~ claimed their kingdom through force 
> 
> Coming up; more of Pitch's thoughts... and Jack's luck begins to run out


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks everyone! I keep seeing new views and kudos, and wow it's so nice!  
> I truly appreciate that you like my fic.

The monster was pacing in circles within the center of the labyrinth, his mind racing with what the boy coming to the surface again would mean. He could sense nothing of the world above beyond fear, so he had no idea if they were growing braver or more optimistic. How was he supposed to live down a _child_ walking out of his labyrinth? One that claimed to be unafraid of him and brought with him the secret to his escape.  
Pitch was not as worried as he could be, only a child would believe that being fearless could keep him from attacking. Children were so easy to scare as well, so any who tried that technique he could surely frighten enough to kill before there would be a second to escape his clutches. No, the one he had to worry about was Jack Frost. 

The warrior could not kill him, he had never feared a human killing him before, and Jack was no stronger than the rest of them. His snow white hair was an oddity, but unlike the humans above he did not associate it with some celestial power. If Jack had the power of Selene in him, he would have sensed it, and the boy would surely have been able to harm him. 

It was what the other would do for his fellow humans, giving them hope, making them think that Pitch could actually be bested. With Jamie’s escape, he showed that he could win in some way, to be able to rescue someone from the labyrinth. It was a small victory, but one that no one had ever hoped to accomplish. It made the monster look weak, the humans revered him in their own way, and if he were seen to have weaknesses like mortals did they would try even harder to fight him. Jack did not respect him in the slightest, and if that spread to the other humans, he knew he would be in trouble. 

He could always torment them with his nightmares, but instead of a show of power, they might take it that he was cornered and fighting back. The only way to undo what Jack had done was to kill the human and make all of what he said and did null. He had to kill Jack Frost as he had all the other humans, to prove that he was not some hero of legend, but only another weak mortal that had managed to last longer than the rest. 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Jack had not seen the monster for days, he had spotted movements of shadows, but other than that he caught no sight of him. He assumed that he was pouting, the thought was amusing to him, and he was sure that had to be the case. While he did miss conversing with the creature a bit, it didn’t beat the satisfaction of knowing he had bested the monster. 

Whenever he thought the monster was near, he would talk about what he thought was going on above them, about celebrations and people rallying together. He would gloat about how he was going to beat the monster, of how he would never take another human’s life now that they knew how to keep safe from him. And Jack believed it, surely the priests would take what Jamie knew into consideration. They would either hold back the sacrifices or send those that knew they would not be afraid of the monster. Pitch couldn’t get mad about that unless he wanted to admit that he needed sacrifices that would actually be afraid of him. It would be his own fault for not having the ability to scare any of them. 

Jamie was a great kid, he was outgoing and full of trust, he would tell anyone that would listen (who wouldn’t want to listen to the boy who escaped the labyrinth?) about how to combat the monster. If he could save enough people, soon the monster wouldn’t be able to harm them because he would no longer be feared. If Jack couldn’t kill the monster with his weapon, he was sure that he could starve him to death. Then he could go back home, he didn’t care about being regarded as a hero, all he wanted to do was see his family again and live a life like the people he had seen in other lands did. The only sacrifices they would make were to the gods and in the form of animals, not humans. And the only memory of the monster would be in stories parents tell their children to make sure they behaved. 

Jack was making his rounds when he heard the familiar noise of one of the entrances opening. He rushed toward the sound, his feet barely touching the ground as he flew to where someone was being lowered down. His heart was filled with joy and dread, this was the beginning of the fall of the monster, but having villagers be used as a part of it was an unnecessary evil. Soon this person would be able to return home, though, and that kept his spirits high enough to smile when he saw the young girl standing uncertainly. 

For a moment in the darkness he saw her as his sister, but he quickly shook it off, “I know that you just got here, but it’s time to leave. Would you like that?” The girl nodded and he picked her up, placing her on his shoulders like he had done with Jamie. “You hear about the kid who got out? You’re gonna be the second one to. Just as long as you do what he did.” 

Jack moved quickly along the twisting paths, assuring her not to be afraid and why she shouldn’t be. Pitch hadn’t appeared to try and scare him or the child, and he guessed that the monster didn’t want to go through the humiliation of being bested by a little kid again. If Pitch ever wanted to kill another human, the only way he could do it would be to reach the sacrifices first, otherwise Jack would make sure they were unafraid when he did try to scare them. 

The girl screamed loudly into his ears and he felt her yanked away from him with more force than he had thought the monster possessed. As he turned and held out his spear, he only saw the girl’s kicking legs as she was dragged around the corner. Jack bounded after her, ready to attack the monster in any way he could, “Don’t be afraid of him! He can’t hurt you if you’re not!” How did he not notice she was afraid? She had been quiet the whole time, but he had thought she felt safe with him. It hadn’t been since she saw Pitch, because her scream had gone along perfectly with the sensation of her being pulled away. The monster already had power over her and Jack hadn’t even known. 

Right now the little girl was thrashing, her movements being stilled as the monster gripped her with his many hands. She hadn’t stopped screaming since she was grabbed, the yell that Jack let out was barely audible over the sound. He stabbed and slashed at Pitch, the actions as worthless as they had ever been, he dropped the weapon in frustration, getting on his knees by the child. 

“You’re alright. It’s okay. Close your eyes and pretend you’re somewhere better.” he tried, but when he touched her cheek to try and calm her she flinched away from him. When the monster’s mouth came down toward her, Jack moved over her, shielding her from the sight. He could feel the sensation of something awful being pulled through him, from the girl and to the monster. Whether it was her fear, her life, or her soul, he didn’t know, but whatever it was he could not stop it from leaving her. The screams turned to sobs, then whimpers, and then she let out a noise like phlegm was bubbling up in her throat, her chest rose up and then fell, the girl motionless beneath him. 

“No…” Jack put a hand over her heart, he could feel that she was still warm, but nothing was beating under her skin. He fell back onto his rear, staring at the dead child, the monster took notice of him after he had finished feeding, and the grin on the curved snout seemed to grow. He thought that Pitch would say something, taunt him about his failure, but the monster only turned his attention back to the corpse. The hands holding it slowly lifted the body off of the ground, her head lolling back as her limbs swung freely in the air. Both the sight and the knowledge of what Pitch was going to do to her made him snap out of his stupor and he grabbed his spear again, slicing at the monster’s arms. 

“Don’t touch her!” Jack continued his assault, the monster staring him down with a look that could be called entertained. The body was thrown at him and he caught her, letting his weapon fall once again, he closed her eyelids gently with his fingertips to hide the horror stricken eyes. He walked away from the monster, vaguely aware that he was trailing after him. 

“You cannot save them all, Jack Frost.” He didn’t have to look behind him to know that the monster had taken on his more human form, he could tell by the voice alone. Jack took the girl to the exit, placing her down in the moonlight where Pitch couldn’t take her away and make her part of his grisly attempts to frighten others. Jack reached into one of the sacks that he had collected, taking out an obol from a bag of coins he had put together. He had planned to give some of the coins to her, to anyone that managed to make it out of the labyrinth. He would still give one to her, though, Jack placed the obol in her mouth, so she would not share the same fate as the others who died here. To die in such an awful way and then not be able to pay for the fare to cross the river in the underworld was a punishment that no one deserved. “Did you bring her here to rot in the moonlight? Or will you fling her out for the seabirds and the crabs to feast on?”

Jack’s fists tightened and he stood again, picking up the little girl, he stepped outside of the labyrinth, all of the monster’s mirth faded as he snarled. “You can’t leave!” Jack ignored him, getting to work on digging the girl’s grave. He only had his hands to work with, hours passed before he managed to finish the hole, his hands were callused and bloody, the wounds coated in dirt. The moon had gone and the sun had risen, but the monster had stayed watching Jack. He lowered the girl into her grave before covering it up once again. He went to the ocean and cleaned himself off, washing his hands and letting his clothes be soaked and cleansed of the dirt on them. It wasn’t until he walked back into the labyrinth that he spoke to the monster again, which truly looked a monster as his agitation caused him to shift back to his larger form. 

“I can leave whenever I want.” he told him calmly, “Unlike you.”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The event had shaken Jack more than he would have thought it could, and the monster took notice of this. Jack would wake up to find his spear missing and have to spend most of the day locating it again. The worst, though, was when he would wake up in a different place than he had fallen asleep at. He knew the monster had something to do with it, whether Pitch could manipulate him through nightmares to make him sleepwalk or could actually get a hold of him while he was unconscious was a mystery to him. 

Another uncertainty, he had been certain the monster could not touch him just as he was certain that he could keep that little girl safe. All of what the monster had ever said to him came back to Jack in parts, but one in particular rang out to him. When he had said that he wasn’t afraid of Pitch, the monster had retaliated by saying he was afraid of something. Did that mean he could attack anyone as long as they felt fear? Even if they didn’t fear him in particular? 

It made him think of what he was truly afraid of, it didn’t take long for what it was to surface. It was his family being harmed, especially his younger sister. His mother was a strong woman, he had never seen her break as she did when the priests had come to their door, even when their father died he had only caught quick glimpses of her crying. Jack himself had been close to tears when his sister had been chosen, the only thing that kept him from losing his composure was his choice to take her place. 

What if she had been taken? What if his ship came back a couple of days later and she was already gone? If she did end up here, he doubted even he could save her from the monster. She was so terrified by the labyrinth itself, if she saw Pitch she would be too scared to calm down again. The little girl he had buried had been the same age as her, would he have to bury his own sister? Fear coursed through Jack as his imagination betrayed him, the thoughts of his sister being condemned to this fate making him tremble. 

No. That would not happen. It would be years before their family name came up as the one for sacrifice, and by then Jack would have slain the monster. He was the only one who would have to deal with Pitch, and he could keep his family safe for long enough, even if he failed somehow. There was noisy breathing behind him, and he turned to see the monster there. His eyes were wide and his many limbs were sprawled to touch the surfaces surrounding him. The area behind him was splattered with black goo, and Jack knew that Pitch must have rushed here at full speed. So it was true, he could attack if someone felt any kind of fear at all.

“Too late, Pitch.” He couldn’t suppress a grin. “You missed your one chance to get me.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have a bit of bad news. I'm going on a trip and I'll be without internet for at least a month. So the next chapter will be up much later than usual.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am back and I would like to give many thanks to all my old and new readers! I thought that this would get stale and dusty until I returned, but new comments and kudos and views and bookmarks ~~and getting noticed by the other writer who helped inspire this~~
> 
> I would like to give thanks to two readers in particular for actions outside of ao3!  
> Nichts for advertising the fic on tumblr  
> and FrostyOreos for fanart!
> 
> http://jacksfrostyadventures.tumblr.com/post/66649399076/inspired-from-the-erebus-labyrinth-fic-also
> 
> Here's the link to the fanart, take a look! It's awesome!

Since that last night, Pitch and Jack had not exchanged words, both being cross with the other. Jack was because Pitch had killed that girl, and the monster was upset about him leaving the labyrinth and that he had helped Jamie to escape before. He rarely ever encountered Pitch, he could only guess that the other was avoiding him on purpose, just in case he decided to say something to him. The only times he saw the monster was when he would be standing in front of the door; once Jack had sat on one of the steps for hours, just watching what the other was doing.

All he did was stare outside, whether he was looking at the grave or something else he didn’t know, but he doubted it was caused by the child being buried, as he had seen Pitch staring out like this before that. If Jack ever made his presence obvious, the monster would just leave in silence, as if he hadn’t been staring out at the beach and the sea for nearly the entire night. Jack wasn’t sure if it was important for him to find out what had his attention, the human was having enough issues of his own.

The little food he had was gone, even what he had managed to scavenge, soon he was living off any of the leather he could find. The rain wasn’t coming either, and he found he couldn’t stomach eating the leather without enough water, it would either make his stomach hurt so bad that he could only curl up on the floor in agony or it would come up again. Each day he felt worse, a cough had begun to bother him, his throat was dry and scratched from dehydration, and even in the silence of the labyrinth he was getting more headaches than he had ever experienced in his life before this. 

No sacrifices had come during this time, and he was thankful for it more than just that it meant people weren’t being endangered. He didn’t think he could run, or even give them encouragement. Not while his own voice was breaking each time he spoke too loudly, or when he couldn’t walk for more than a few minutes before he needed to use his spear as a walking stick. He was shivering near constantly, at first from the cold, then from fatigue as he grew weaker. His patrols grew shorter each day, he would have to take breaks to sit, and too often he found himself passing out unbidden during these times. His breaks turned to naps, then he slept more hours than he spent awake, when he did keep his eyes open his stomach hurt so badly that he couldn’t bring himself to stand. 

Jack managed to make his way to the only reliable source of water he had, the dripping water that came from above. Keeping his mouth underneath it for an hour gave him less than half of a mouthful, but it was better than nothing. There was no food for him anymore, even if there was he didn’t have the strength to find it. He was thinner, but not more than many of the poorer families appeared as, so he thought that he could have held out longer than this. The cold bothered him more than ever, and he was unable to generate heat through activity. So the human could only curl up, trying to preserve as much heat as possible, sleep to relieve the pain, and listen to the steady drop of the water from above.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Pitch’s weak illusion of control was shattering, first with the escape of the boy, and then the stunt that Jack had pulled. There was good reason for him to think that no one would ever escape his labyrinth, but as for Jack stepping outside of it… He knew Jack was capable of that, but he had pushed it to the back of his mind, so far that he had thought the human could not do it. So when he left to bury the child, he had actually been shocked by the action, having convinced himself he was not able to leave. He was certain that Jack would make it worse by taunting him about it, but then he had felt _fear_.

He had hurried to the scent, cursing the pathways that made it take so long to reach him, and once he had found Jack it was gone. Like the scent of the most delicious meal being blown on the wind and then vanishing before it could be reached. It wasn’t Pitch who had directly caused it by popping out or pretending to attack him, but something he had done or said had certainly played a part in the fear. Jack had to think about it himself, though, so Pitch thought it was best to leave him alone and let him have time to dwell on the horrors. He was not avoiding him because he was upset with him, the monster thought himself above such petty feelings. 

Whenever Jack had come close to him, and he noticed his approach, he made sure to stay out of sight. After a while of this he noticed that the human was not as active, he didn’t see him patrolling near the entrances anymore, he even sat at them waiting, expecting him to come. When the next sacrifice arrived, he allowed them to flee from him, thinking their screams would send Jack running. The monster’s patience did not last when Jack failed to and he soon killed the human. 

Instead of getting to work on pulling apart the corpse, he began his search for Jack, concerned something may have happened to him. Concerned only for the meal he might have lost, that Jack had decided to leave after all. Pitch moved through the labyrinth rapidly, his many hands keeping his flowing body in motion and balanced as he scoured each section of it. He almost passed Jack in his haste, the human looking like he might have been a dead victim by the way he was curled up. 

The monster leaned his face over him, turning his large head to the side so he could examine Jack. He was shaking in his sleep, arms wrapped around his body, his face scrunched up a bit with clenched teeth. Pitch couldn’t understand what he was shaking for, he knew humans trembled when they were afraid, but Jack wasn’t afraid. Suddenly the human began coughing, and Pitch jerked his head back in surprise, moving out of sight as Jack’s coughing fit grew bad enough to wake him. 

Pitch watched as the other grabbed his shield and pulled it up to his chest, he was not familiar with the concept of hot and cold, so he didn’t know that the human was trying to get warmer. He could see him trying to fit the shield over most of him, though, so he thought maybe he needed more armor to cover him. So Pitch collected various pieces of armor, placing them on the ground as Jack slept and waiting around the corner to see if he would do anything with them.   
Jack was confused by the sudden pile near him, as was obvious by the look on his face, but he did go through the pile. He didn’t put on any of the metal like Pitch thought he would, that was the only type of armor he had brought as he knew it was superior to the others. The human didn’t want something that felt cold, though, and Pitch was surprised to see Jack tear off a cape that was attached to one of the pieces of armor and pull it around himself. 

The monster then set off to find the largest piece of fabric in the labyrinth. After pulling out many capes and small articles of clothing he found a large blanket that was a little thicker than the rest of the items. There were old blood splatters on it, but he didn’t think Jack would mind it. 

The human did not as he took the blanket as soon as he saw it, putting the cape underneath him to protect him from the cold ground and curled up in the blanket. His shaking soon stopped after that, and Pitch expected the human to get up the next time he awoke now that the problem was fixed. But when he stirred again because of a coughing fit, all he did was pull the blanket closer to his body. 

The noise that Jack was making, Pitch did not know what a ‘cough’ was, must be part of the problem, but he had no idea how to fix that. He had heard humans make it before, and even animals made strange sounds in similar intervals that could be compared to Jack’s. All of those animals had been unwanted, though; the humans only gave him ones that had something wrong with them. All of the humans he had heard make it were very old or appeared much like the animals did. Slow, their minds and fear foggy, sometimes fluid dripped from their nose even though they weren’t sobbing out of fear yet. He couldn’t imagine any of them being of much use in the world above, so they weren’t sent here to feed him so they could have purpose in their death. 

The two eyes on the monster’s face widened as he moved toward Jack, shrinking down to his more human form, the half without the forced grin on it was set in a deep frown instead as he looked at Jack lying there. The warrior turned his head, eyes opening slowly, when he recognized Pitch he managed a smile.

“Thanks for the blanket.” 

His voice was weak, he had never heard him speak in such a quiet way, it sounded like the others that had been sent here that had made the coughing noise. It only confirmed Pitch’s suspicions and he furrowed half of his brow. 

“You are dying.”

“I guess I am.” Jack closed his eyes slowly, taking in a deep breath which caused him to go into another round of coughing. Pitch didn’t feel fear from him, though, as if his mortality coming to its end was not a big issue. Even through the toll his sickness had taken on his voice there was still an edge of humor to his words. “You’re finally getting what you wanted.”

“Do not presume you know what I want.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Pitch has to resort to drastic measures to keep Jack alive (so he can kill him). That's coming up next!


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahh, sorry this took so long! I got caught up in a bunch of things.  
> All I had to do was look at all the comments and the wonderful art again to remember it was important that I updated ASAP. <3  
> Thank you for being patient! I was looking forward to writing this chapter as it is based on the drawings of morbidlizard greatly, and I wanted to be sure it was just right. Enjoy!

Pitch did what he could to get Jack back to normal, mimicking the habits he had seen the human display. He used pieces of armor to collect water from the outside for him, though that had been difficult for Pitch since he couldn’t go out of the door. He had to maneuver a piece of armor outside with a weapon during the rain and pull it back in the same way, usually spilling water on the way, but it was much more than the human had been getting. 

Jack appreciated the water, but he didn’t approve of what else Pitch did to try and heal him. He brought him one of the human bodies, expecting Jack to do what he had done to the rats to the body. It was the freshest, the one he had most recently killed, but the human had turned away in disgust from the offering. The monster knew that Jack wouldn’t last much longer in this condition, but he had no idea how to make him better. 

He wouldn’t let the human die like this, but it seemed that it would be easier to keep Jack alive than it would be to scare him before he died. How the human could be so frail and pained but have no fear was difficult for the monster to comprehend. Letting him die like this only had a slim chance of him becoming afraid when his time came. The human slept so much now, he wouldn’t be shocked if he died _peacefully_ in his sleep!

Taking care of mortals was never something that Pitch had put even the slightest thought into. Or any creature besides himself. The humans took care of themselves and were thrown down here to be killed. It was that simple. But Jack Frost was _far_ from simple, Pitch had already spent large periods of time trying to figure out how to scare him when it should have only taken an instant. He could eventually figure out how to scare Jack, that much he was sure of, but he had no hope of keeping the human alive long enough for that to happen.

A welcome distraction came in the form of a sacrifice, and Pitch went to the entrance where the human was to be lowered. This was exactly what he needed; a meal to revitalize him and help him figure out how to get Jack back into good condition. The monster froze as it realized that a more effective way to cure Jack was about to present itself. What would know the best about fixing a human? A human, of course! And the priests were just about to send one down for him to use.

Him needing this human alive did not quell his hunger, and while part of his mind was telling him not to harm the new arrival, the rest of it and his body were screaming at him to attack the moment the moonlight was gone. Pitch was not used to controlling himself, it was always an unpleasant experience that only felt better once he gave into his temptation. If he wanted Jack to live, though, he would have to try. 

It would be much easier to resist attacking the human if they weren’t too afraid, so the monster shifted into his more human form. It was logical that the human would not be very intimidated by another of their kind, but try as he might, he could only keep a little more than a half of his face human in appearance. He used his human appearing hands to try and smooth down the blackness of his body, knowing very well that human skin and clothes didn’t move like that, but it would just pop back up again when he did, and he couldn’t control the spidery appendages of darkness that kept poking out of his body. 

This would have to do, he just had to drag the other human to Jack before they noticed he wasn’t human himself. He waited for the sacrifice in the pathway that led to Jack, as soon as she wandered close enough, he grabbed her hand with his own and began pulling her along after him. There was a moment of panic from her that almost made him attack, but it was quelled immediately after, he was sure he had his current form to thank for that.

The woman was curious about the one leading her, though, she looked down at the hand holding her, the complexion of it she could rationalize as the light being strange, but the way the ‘clothing’ on the arm shifted and swirled alerted her to what kind of creature had a hold on her. Even before the scream left her mouth, the fingers twisted into black talons that held her tighter, the human form by her expanding and shifting into a large reptilian monster as more arms came out of it to hold her down.

Pitch roared at the panicking human beneath him, no longer leading her through the labyrinth, the reason being lost as his hunger took over. Her fear had been impossible to ignore, and he _had_ to feed while she was at her most frightened. There was a pause in her sobs and screams, it was only for a second, but he heard another sound during that time. He hesitated in his attack, instead putting a hand over the human’s mouth to muffle the screams, making her struggle more. 

He could hear Jack coughing faintly, they were far enough for him to know that the human had to be having a violent fit for him to be able to hear it. Pitch remembered why he had brought the human here instead of just killing her at the entrance, and he growled quietly as he moved his face away from hers. Keeping his hold on her, he dragged the human to where Jack was, dropping her on the floor, he ground his sharp teeth together, still wanting to attack. 

“FIX HIM!” Pitch demanded, making the woman flinch as she clambered away from him, his frustration grew as she ignored Jack to try and run off deeper into the labyrinth. He moved faster than her, shrinking down to bolt past her across the shadows before growing once again to block her path. “ _NOW!_ ” Black sludge splattered all over her as she nearly ran right into Pitch, who was thinking she might be too useless to bother keeping alive. He herded her back into the room with Jack, his body spiking and oozing to match his irritation. 

“Pitch.” The weak voice made him turn his attention back to Jack, “Leave her alone… if you want her to help-“ He started coughing again, Pitch waited it out with more patience than he had for the other human, “You can’t be in here scaring her.” The monster’s body inflated a bit before he exhaled in a huff, crawling out of the vision of the two humans to wait out their conversation.

If he wanted to, he could have eavesdropped on them, but he was far too busy with his own thoughts, having to focus hard on not attacking the woman. He had a good idea what was being discussed, though. First of all, Jack must have worked on calming the other human, as her fear grew less, it didn’t vanish but it wasn’t as hard to resist returning to attack. Anything else they had to say he considered unimportant, the way that humans cared for themselves and others would likely be hard for him to understand, so he would let the humans explain it to him in an easier way. 

When Jack called him in, he crawled back around the corner, his eyes locking on the female as her fear rose again. “Tell him what you told me and he won’t hurt you.” Jack assured her, Pitch decided to wait until she gave him the information he needed before letting her know that wasn’t true. 

“He isn’t diseased.” she answered, staring down at her feet, her voice was uncertain, but Pitch didn’t know if that meant her diagnosis was faulty or if it was her nerves. “He just needs food-“

“As do I.” Pitch moved closer as his voice rose in volume, and the woman couldn’t remain in place, she moved away from him rapidly, back hitting a wall. “HE CAN HAVE WHAT’S LEFT OF YOU!” His large body curled around the front of her to keep her from running off. 

“That won’t work, Pitch.” He could tell that Jack meant to shout, by the way his voice cracked and was somewhat louder than the whispers he had barely been able to manage recently. “I’m not going to eat another human.” 

“THEN _WHAT_?!”

“There’s a place to get food.” Jack was going to let the other explain, but Pitch had sent her into a panic. Luckily, the monster moved closer to him in order to listen, “Do you know what a tree is?” Pitch nodded, “In it are fruits, round colorful things. At one of the entrances there are a bunch of them, no one really picks them because they’re too scared, so there should be plenty. The shade of the trees should allow you to reach them. But don’t pick all of them.”

Pitch turned away, he knew exactly where the fruit were, he had tried to escape by using the shadows of the trees several times, but he could never get very far. “We need her here.” Jack told him, seeming to read his mind as he planned to kill her before he left, “She knows how to prepare them to make me better.”  
Instead of arguing, he moved through the labyrinth and toward the entrance, he would watch how the human prepared these ‘fruits’ and learn how to himself, then he would kill her. The monster pushed open the door to the upper world with caution, unlike the other entrances no light came in. He crept out slowly, shrinking in size so he could fit through. 

He knew this place well, it having been his one way to reach the outside world since he had been imprisoned. Once a human saw him out here, and ever since then no one had come near here, except the desperately hungry or foolish. The plum trees that offered the shade were unpicked, often they remained that way until the fruit fell off and decomposed on the ground. No animals came to eat the fruit, so the only things that got rid of the mess beneath the trees was the weather and time as they rotted and sunk into the ground to fertilize the trees once more.

What the best fruit for Jack would be, he didn’t know, so he had to take a guess. He slunk around, using his many hands to grab the largest plums as he watched the moonlight on the ground nervously, as if it would suddenly burst through the shadows to attack him. Once he had picked all of the best looking fruit, he hurried back into the labyrinth, closing the door behind him. 

Carrying the fruit, he was careful not to drop any of them, he even gave his three fingered hands an extra claw for security. As he turned the corner, he announced it to both of the humans, as Jack was likely to have fallen asleep and he wouldn’t be able to resist attacking the woman if she panicked and Jack wasn’t there to calm here. 

"HERE, I BROUGHT FOOD LIKE YOU TOLD M-"

He cut off as he surveyed the area; Jack was the only one here, underneath his blanket and on the floor where he had been left. The human had his eyes closed, but he was obviously awake as he began to laugh at Pitch. His laughs were riddled with coughs, but that didn’t make the monster any less angry.

“GODS DAMMIT, JACK!” 

Pitch threw the plums up in the air as his rage overtook him, he ran toward the exit of the labyrinth, knowing Jack had sent her there. 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Jack still laughed for a while longer after Pitch rushed off to try and catch the woman, soon after he was only coughing, then he was left in silence. He didn’t worry about the other human, she would have made it to the exit before Pitch got back even if she hadn’t been running. What she had told him had been very helpful and offered him great relief. He had thought he had gotten some incurable disease, but it was only extreme hunger. 

He had heard the fruit fall, but he could still hardly believe it when he saw the plums lying on the ground. It was strange that the monster would go through such lengths to keep him alive, especially since he just wanted to kill him. Jack didn’t understand most of the creature’s actions or his reasoning behind them, so he decided not to question this one until he felt better.

The warrior was not surprised that Pitch didn’t come back, he was likely throwing a fit, but he didn’t need him to eat, as long as he brought the food he could pout all he wanted. Jack did not expect sitting up to be such a chore, it took him minutes to get himself into an upright position, and he was shaking at the end of it, his body begging him to lie back down. The closest piece of fruit was only a little more than a metre away, but he couldn’t imagine himself being able to crawl over to it and eat. 

Staring at the plum, he took in several breaths, preparing himself to make his way over. The familiar sound of the monster approaching, bone cracking and claws scraping, caught his attention. Pitch came in, not looking at him as his many arms gathered the fruit before he moved to Jack’s side, offering a plum. Jack took it from the clawed hand, not expecting his arm to shake so much upon being raised. He held the plum up to his mouth, taking a small bite out of it. After a few more bites, the effort seemed like too much, and he hadn’t even eaten a fifth of it. Letting his hand drop into his lap, he was quite aware of the monster’s gaze on him, and he decided to answer the question before it was asked. 

“I do need more to eat, but… it’s too hard to chew it off the plum.” 

“Chew?” The monster rumbled, several levels below the loud voice that he normally had in this form.

“Chew is like… you move your mouth like this.” Jack demonstrated slowly, “And the food breaks up between your teeth.”

The monster looked at his largest handful of plums, opening his mouth and placing them in. He began to open and close his mouth, the fruit, its peel, and even the pits breaking up into a fine mush. Pitch opened his mouth, the colorful mash mixing in with the blackness that oozed out of him. Letting some of it drip into his hand, he offered it to Jack, who turned away and made a face. 

“That will make me even sicker!” Despite the disgusting display, he was having trouble not laughing at the monster. “I just need them smaller. So _I_ can chew them myself.” He could use his weapon to cut them up, but holding that seemed like a very difficult task in his condition.

Pitch then shifted into a seating position next to Jack, his whole body shifting as well, the fruits coming together into the human shaped arms that now held them on Pitch’s lap. He was doing something with the fruit, but Jack felt too tired to try and see what the monster was up to. Jack swayed back and forth a bit, it was hard for him to sit up like this without support, and as he tilted to the side he found it in an unlikely place. Opening his eyes, he looked at the surface he was leaning against; it was Pitch’s arm. On the surface it was still the same as the rest of him, the wispy and off-putting shadows, but it felt like there was an actual arm underneath it all.  
“Hey… how can I-“ He didn’t finish as Pitch held up a slice of plum, it was cleanly cut by the claws that now held it. 

“Eat.” Pitch ordered, pushing it at Jack’s mouth until he opened it. The monster watched him chew it and waited for him to swallow before offering him another. Jack took his time eating, the woman from before made it clear that he would get worse if he ate too fast or too much at once, and the monster didn’t rush him. Closing his eyes, he continued to eat what he was given, beginning to feel drowsy. He opened his mouth for another piece and was suddenly startled by the hard object he bit into. He spat out the pit and glared at Pitch, before he could get upset about it, the other got upset himself.

“Don’t waste your food, Frost!” he hissed, picking up the dirt coated pit again and trying to shove it at Jack’s mouth, obviously cross by the way he avoided the offering by turning his head to the sides and clamping his mouth shut.

“That’s the pit.” he said, “I can’t eat that part of it.” Pitch seemed perplexed by this, staring at the pit and trying to understand why he couldn’t have it. “That’s enough food for now.” He was glad that Pitch didn’t question that, guessing that he didn’t know how much humans were supposed to eat. 

“ _I_ didn’t have enough.” Pitch told him, turning his head to scowl at him. It wasn’t obvious on the unchanging side of his face, but the more human side looked very irritated at him. “I get food for you and you send mine away. That is no way to show your gratitude.” 

“She isn’t food, she’s a human. And she helped us out, killing her is no way for _you_ to show gratitude.” Jack coughed for a bit before continuing, “You’re just upset because you didn’t think I could save anyone like this.” The monster snorted, staring ahead without a response. He could imagine the expression he had on his face and it made him smirk. Still leaning against Pitch’s arm, his eyelids grew heavy, and his stomach wasn’t protesting as it had been the past few days. And despite the horrible nightmare he received from such close contact with the monster, it was the most restful sleep he had in a long while.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Jack can't live off just one type of fruit forever, and the trees only hold so much of it as Pitch soon finds out. How will this dilemma be solved? Find out in the next chapter!


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for being patient! Hope you like it!

Jack’s new diet helped him greatly in his recovery, he got more color in his face and gained a bit more mobility. He could sit up on his own and he no longer needed to have his food cut up or fed to him. His recovery was not going quite as well as Pitch thought it should be, however. He had eaten more than enough, he was sure, and if he didn’t slow down the trees would soon be picked clean. 

When Jack informed him that humans had to eat more than one type of food, Pitch was beside himself with frustration. He thought he had finally figured out how to keep the human from dying, only to learn that they were much more fragile than he could have anticipated. Pitch was restricted to one form of sustenance and neither craved or needed another. 

The only other thing he had managed to collect was a small family of mice that had been tossed in, their collective meat was smaller than the flesh of two plums, though. Jack had recovered to a degree, but he wasn’t going to be getting much better unless he had other things to eat. After going through all this trouble, he was not going to let the human die because of hunger. Not when he had taken so many trips to the surface, creeping through the shadows and cowering from the light just to feed him. 

All he could do was search through the labyrinth again, he already knew there was nothing for him to eat here, as he had already looked through it before several times. Still Pitch searched for him, angry at the circumstances and Jack’s own stubbornness as he continued to refuse human flesh.  
Pitch was making another round when he scented fear, not at any of the entrances or even _near_ them. Someone had made it deep into his labyrinth without him noticing. The monster swiftly moved toward the intruder, trying to think of how this was possible. Could it be that he was distracted? That his senses were growing dull?

He turned the corner before the human rapidly, causing them to jump from the suddenness. But after they grinned widely, “Pitch!” Jamie exclaimed, but the monster only stared at him, feeling the fear flow away from the boy. That could only mean one thing; Jamie’s fear had been relieved by his appearance. The monster reared up, letting out a roar of anger so loud that the child winced and covered his ears.

“Sorry!” Jamie bowed respectfully, thinking that the other was upset over his casual greeting. The monster’s large body melted away, but even at his human size, Jamie wasn’t as tall as his legs. So he bent down in an unnatural manner to lock eyes with Jamie. The constant upward snarl on his face continuing downward on the other side.

“You _dare_ to enter my labyrinth again? The only other human foolish enough to do that is now _dying_.”

“I know, that’s why I came!” Jamie turned his back to the monster, making him even angrier. His attention was brought to a large wooden board that had several items tied down tightly. There were pots, baskets, and several parcels. “We heard that Jack didn’t have enough food, so a lot of us got some for him!” Pitch moved past Jamie, looking harder at the different things, he began to cut through the binding so he could open one of the baskets.

“No, don’t do that!” Jamie protested, “It could fall out if you do!” The monster could see that Jamie was tugging on a rope and dragging the board with all its goods very slowly. “This is the way to Jack, right? I saw you come from there but I’m only guessing… I was really worried that I was going to get lost in here.”

Pitch didn’t correct him about getting lost in a labyrinth, wanting to let him think that he could if he was afraid of it. He just moved past Jamie and took the rope from him, dragging it much faster than the small human had been able to. “You’re really strong! Do you mind if I sit down? I had to get this all the way here.” Jamie climbed on top of the board, taking a seat on it. “Well, I had help from the town to the cliff, and then we lowered it on ropes. But I had to get it over the rocks and bring it inside and up the stairs was really hard. If it wasn’t tied up, they would have all spilled!”

“I don’t care!” Pitch snapped, stopping and glaring at the child. Jamie stared back for a moment before continuing. 

“That’s alright, I’m done talking about that anyway.” Pitch started to pull again, “How’s Jack? Is he really that sick? Have you been taking care of him good?” When Pitch didn’t answer, he kept talking about himself. “My mom doesn’t know that I came here. She was so happy when I came back, and she stays up every night because she thinks you’re going to come take me. But when I tell her that I made it here and home safe again she won’t have to be worried anymore.”

“Don’t be so certain, boy.” Pitch turned to stare back at him with multiple eyes, “While Frost eats the food you brought, I will feast on _you_.”

“You don’t have to do that.” And as the threat hadn’t intimidated Jamie, he wouldn’t be able to. “My sister made a box of food just for you!”

“A-… _what_?” He stopped, eyeing all of the containers.

“Pitch? Who are you talking to?” The sound of Jack’s voice made the child jump up and run past Pitch.

“Jack!” The monster dragged the food in, sneering at the sight of Jamie hugging the warrior. “I missed you!” 

“Missed you too.” Jack ruffled his hair, giving Pitch a dark and untrusting look. “I didn’t want you coming back here, though.”

“But I had to bring you food! No one else would go in here!” Jamie blurted, going over to the rope that Pitch held, “Thank you for helping.” He gave another small bow to him before dragging the collection of food over to Jack. Darkness crept over the grey parts of Pitch’s body as he growled, his now clawed fingers curling into a fist.

What annoyed him the most about Jamie was how he treated him as a normal, if not royal, human being. Even though Jack didn’t fear him, he at least treated him like a monster. It was both unsettling and infuriating; that a child was unafraid of him and acted as if he were another human.

“You didn’t have to do this.” Jack said, “There’s heaps of food here. You can’t afford this.”

“Almost everyone shared a little, so it didn’t cost anyone that much.”

“Cost?” Pitch questioned, moving over by the two.

“It costs money to get food.” Jack started to explain while Jamie worked on pulling out one of the baskets. “Those flat, metal circle pieces. You’ve seen them here.” Pitch sliced the tie that was holding the basket, making Jamie fall backwards and a variety of vegetables come tumbling out of it.

“Oh, wait!” Jamie seemed to forget the vegetables, taking a different package off of it, “This is from your mother. She said you need more changes of clothes.” 

“So this will last him for many moons.” Pitch said, thinking there had to be quite a lot of supplies, enough to keep Jack from dying before he could kill him. 

“Actually… I don’t think so.” Jack said, “Two, maybe three.” 

Pitch’s entire body was overcome with blackness as it grew, the monster storming out of the room with teeth gnashing so hard it was audible. He had planned to kill Jamie and make Jack watch, but if the food wouldn’t last, then there would be no one willing to bring it. That would mean he would have to let the child leave the labyrinth for a _second_ time. What would the humans think of him then? 

He only managed to calm down by coming up with a compromise. He absolved to kill Jack Frost, then show his corpse to Jamie when he brought food for the warrior and scare him once he was vulnerable to his attacks. After that he could fling both of their corpses into the town so they would know that there was no human that was a match for him.

Whatever the two humans were discussing, he was sure that it was a positive and uplifting conversation, so he wanted to be well out of earshot. All he cared for was that Jack was finally getting what he needed to survive. He did not want to see the hope and happiness shining in those arrogant blue eyes. Nor did he want to hear the warrior feeding the child lies to keep him brave. So he retreated to the center of the labyrinth to wait out the visit. 

It was only an hour or so later when he sensed the same fear from earlier in the evening. The boy was even deeper within the labyrinth. Meaning that of the two directions he could have taken, he went the way that he had not come from. Pitch was tempted to let him keep wandering, but if his fear became too great, he wouldn’t be able to keep himself from attacking.

The monster made sure to keep his appearance as human as possible, so as to prevent Jamie from being startled in any way. He could not hide the bones or bodies (which he had spread out again while the warrior was incapacitated), but Jamie was more sad than afraid because of them. It didn’t keep him from talking up a storm, and Pitch was less tolerant this time around.

“Hold your tongue, vexatious boy!” 

“What does ve…vuh…vushashush mean?”

“It means ‘go away’.” Pitch grumbled.

“’Go away’ boy…?” Jamie frowned, “Is that why you’re mad at me? Because I’m going away? Don’t worry, you’ve got Jack! And he’s a great friend! I want him to come up and play with me and the others, but I know you need him more.”

“I don’t need him for _anything_.” Pitch corrected, “And I’m going to kill him. Is that something that friends do?” 

“Well, no… but I know it’s hard for you.”

“Hard for me to what?” 

“To keep care of people… that’s why everyone down here dies.”

“They die because I _kill_ them!” Pitch couldn’t believe how dense Jamie was being. 

“I know you do… but…” Jamie’s expression turned serious. “It’s like what my little sister did. She wanted to be friends with a butterfly, so she caught one and put it in a box. She put in flowers and water, but the butterfly still died because she didn’t know how to take care of it.”

“How can you possibly compare your sister’s idiocy to me killing humans?!” 

“Because you almost let the same happen to Jack since you didn’t know how to keep him alive! And I know when people try to catch butterflies, they usually end up dying because their wings break so easy… You kill a lot of people chasing and catching them.” 

“Are you truly this ignorant, child? Can you not recognize evil staring you in the face?”

“You don’t look evil to me.” Jamie told him as he went down the stairs that led to the outside, the monster grew, the increasing shadows making the boy turn back to look at him before he stepped into the moonlight.

“AND NOW?” he bellowed, the boy shook his head.

“You look scarier, but you’re not evil. I can’t imagine what it’s like not to have friends. It must be really lonely, and bad feelings can make you act bad. You’re lucky that Jack is so strong and fun to be with. He’ll make you feel better!” 

“DID _HE_ TELL YOU THIS?”

“No. I figured it out myself.” Jamie walked into the doorway, beyond Pitch’s reach. “Jack told me to stay away from you. He thinks you might hurt me… But when you learn how to be a better friend from Jack, I want to become your friend too.”

Pitch tried to move after him, hissing in pain as he struck the barrier made by the moonlight. Jamie had already begun climbing back up the cliff, and the monster sat and listened to him scale up the rocks. Breathing in the fear that each of his missteps brought as he tried to forget the child’s words.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Jack begins feeling better. Will he and Pitch fall back into their old routine? Or will the two begin questioning their relationship?


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't forget to check out the art that this is inspired by!: http://morbidlizard.tumblr.com/post/57109456771/so-im-terribly-late-for-black-ice-week-but-i
> 
> As well as the lovely fanart done for it!: http://jacksfrostyadventures.tumblr.com/post/66649399076/inspired-from-the-erebus-labyrinth-fic-also
> 
> And thank you all for the kudos and bookmarks and comments! >W

As he had been when Pitch and Jamie had passed him before, Jack was still sleeping. The monster took this time to sift through what the child had brought. He looked into the different containers, opening them all up carefully and trying to figure out what had been brought. Pitch didn’t recognize most of what was in there, and he soon got bored of it. Instead he lied down by Jack, watching him, still simultaneously frustrated and intrigued by the warrior’s resistance to his nightmares.

By now he more or less knew how much the human slept, so when he remained in the same position for hours beyond his longest uninterrupted amount of sleep, the monster concluded that something must be wrong with him. He arched his back, leaning over Jack with his mouth wide open, black strands slowly dripping out as he breathed onto the human.

“JACK!” When the human didn’t so much as stir, the monster shrunk down, grabbing him by the shoulders with his human-like hands and shaking him hard. Jack groaned, opening his eyes and squinting at Pitch in confusion.

“Pitch? What? How are-“He grunted as he was dropped back down by the monster.

“You weren’t waking up, you appeared to be dead.” Jack sat up again, rubbing the back of his head. 

“Were you just touching me?” The human asked, the monster giving him a queer look, wondering if the illness was making him delirious as well.

“Is there anyone else here?” he asked, moving away from Jack, “The boy has left, but as soon as he returns with your next batch of food, I will kill him.” 

“You aren’t going to kill him.” Jack snapped, his glare vanishing a moment later, “He’ll be bringing food, but he won’t be in your reach when he does.” The monster listened to Jack’s explanation of how retrieving the food would work, literally puffing up in anger as he turned into his monstrous form before stalking off to simmer.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Jack enjoyed the food that had been brought to him, thankful that most of the fruit had been dried out in the sun so he didn’t have to eat them all before they went bad. He was able to do more than just lie around, he had begun walking around as well as doing minor exercises. The monster had become less active, he noticed. Usually he had no idea where Pitch was, but since he had received the food, he would wake up to find the monster in the room with him. While the monster was usually lying down, he was never asleep, the multitude of eyes on his body noticing as soon as Jack woke, and he almost always greeted him.

It made Jack wonder what it was that the monster did for fun. He knew that he enjoyed killing people and spreading their parts all over the place, but that was it. What did he do when there were no sacrifices? Jack was certain he would have lost his mind to boredom if he didn’t have the monster to speak to down here. The sacrifices were the only action he really saw, for Jack they usually ended badly with the monster winning. But the monster could only get enjoyment out of it for several hours at the most, if the dismembering of the body was included. The labyrinth was huge, but the monster had surely explored its entirety scores of times for how long he had been here. If Pitch slept, he could see how the creature could spend most of his time here, but it was obvious that he didn’t.

These thoughts brought on a strange nightmare, unlike any of the ones he had encountered while here. He was in the labyrinth, but there was no sign of the monster, and as the logic of dreams worked in strange ways, he somehow knew he was the only one in here. He thought of the exit, knowing he could leave because the monster was gone, and he was at the door that led to the beach. But the door was no longer there, instead it was a wall as solid as the rest of them. His thoughts immediately went to the entrances that the sacrifices were sent down, and he was there much faster than his feet could take him. Sunlight shone down through the hole, the sounds of laughter and the bustle of the city poured down, bringing a grin to Jack’s face. Moving toward the light, he let out a silent cry of pain as he was repelled from it, he gripped his pale hand, which began to darken and grow claws. He called up for help from the people above, but the only sound that came out was a roar. The world above became chaotic, the sounds of screams all belonging to people he knew pounded in his head. His sister appeared at the opening, staring down at him with terror as the opening slowly closed and left him in blackness.  


When he woke, he did not feel fear as usual, but he felt something much worse than that. Loneliness. Seeing the monster curled up directly in front of him was a comfort, oddly enough. For the first time, he could not see any of the yellow that signified eyes (he assumed at least). Which explained why the monster didn’t turn around as soon as Jack woke up like usual.

The human took in a breath, trying to get over the strange nightmare he had. While none of them ever scared him, they still took a toll on him, the monster just didn’t think it counted because the only emotion he cared for was fear. Jack wasn’t going to sit here and mope, however, deciding to distract himself instead. Picking up a few pieces of trash left from eating, he decided to check if the monster truly wasn’t watching him. He flung a pit at the monster, hitting him in the back with it, the seed stuck then was absorbed into the black goo.

The monster didn’t even flinch, so Jack threw one of the empty buckets at him, the same thing that happened to the pit happened to it. He entertained himself by throwing a few more things, even a piece of rotting food, trying to hit the monster in different places. He missed several times, but none of the misses were heavy or loud enough to get the monster’s attention. Only when Jack tried to stifle a laugh upon seeing the bucket reemerge on (what he thought was) Pitch’s shoulder did the monster hear he was awake. 

Lifting up his head, he turned to stare at Jack, the bucket sinking back under before his snout swiveled over it. Snorting, he narrowed his eyes at the sound of amusement that came from Jack, standing and shaking himself, splattering goo all over, though none of Jack’s additions to his body were dislodged.

“Did I disrupt nap time, your highness?” Pitch didn’t respond with anything more articulate than a growl, slinking away from the human. Jack wasn’t sure what had made him so cranky, but it wasn’t anything too out of the normal. The monster’s default mood seemed to be negative from what he had seen. 

Jack decided that he was going to keep himself occupied so he wouldn’t contemplate on his nightmare. It never did him well to dwell on whatever Pitch had influenced his dreams to do. So he began to clean up any of the old food or other garbage around him. The monster didn’t understand the importance of cleaning up, so that left it up to Jack to get anything rotting away from himself. He took all of the trash to a barrel that was around the corner from where he usually slept. At least the monster was interested in cleaning out the barrel, he never said what he did but Jack could guess that he was using it make something ‘scary’.

Lifting things did well for Jack’s health, even if they were just small ones. He was carrying over a box of well expired vegetables (he had really tried to eat them as they were good for his health, but that didn’t change the fact that he didn’t like the taste of most of them) over to the barrel when he felt something moving around in it. He only had to look down to see the rat squirming up out of the vegetation, obviously startled by the sudden movement of its new home. Jack made a face, wondering if the rodent had eaten any of his other food. 

Picking it up by the tail, he put the box down, feeling a heavy breath on the back of his neck a second later. The rat squealed and struggled as Jack turned around, switching his grip on the rat so he was holding it by the chest and neck. The monster was staring at it with hunger in a way that Jack had imagined himself making such an expression before he had gotten food. 

“You want this?” Jack asked, holding up the rat higher. The monster didn’t care about the question, taking in a deeper breath that made the rat shriek. It was obvious that Pitch wasn’t going to wait for permission, so the warrior instead moved his other hand on the rat. “Stop or I’ll kill it.” The monster immediately ceased, glaring at the human and letting out shallow hiss. 

Jack didn’t want to kill the rat, it could be used as food for him, but he had enough and would be getting more, so there was no need for it. While killing the rat would be a good way to spite the monster, that didn’t mean he would. He never entertained the thought of killing anything (even something as small as a rat) unless it was completely necessary. If he could, he would just let the rat go, but Pitch would catch and kill it. He could try to walk to the exit and free it, but the monster would figure out what he was doing and try to kill it anyways. 

“If you want this” Jack started again, “you’ll have to do something for me in return.” If the rat was going to die, he might as well try and get something out of it. The multitude of eyes on the monster narrowed, but they widened once again when Jack made a motion conveying he might throw it. The human laughed at the way he seemed to perk up at the idea of getting the rat, which of course made Pitch sour again. 

“GIVE IT TO ME!”

“Why?”

“IT’S MINE!”

“You’re definitely not getting the rat with that tone or attitude.” The monster leered at him, shrinking down into a vaguely human shape, the toothless grin in this form turned downward before vanishing. Leaving only the eyes and nose on his sharp edged countenance, he held out a hand with long talons.

“Give.” he said without his mouth reappearing, his voice much quieter than when he was larger, but more chilling than his partially human form. 

“Your tone’s a _little_ better, but you’re still being rude. A ‘please’ won’t kill you.” Pitch continued glowering and Jack sighed, “I’m just going to put it out of its misery-“

“Don’t you dare!” Pitch snapped, “I will throw out all of your food if you do!”

“Don’t you _want_ me to have food?” Jack asked, amused by the threat.

“I will throw out the ones you like the most.”

“You know which ones are my favorites?” Jack grinned, “I didn’t think you cared so much, Pitch.” It was kind of weird how the monster watched him eat, but he had only thought he had been trying to unnerve him. He wouldn’t have guessed that he had actually been paying attention to what he was eating. “I already finished all of that stuff. But I do hope Sophie makes more treats for you, those were delicious.” He was sure that the little girl had only helped her mother make them, because there was no way a kid her age could make anything more complex than mud pies. 

“You ate my treats?!” The back of the monster bristled up, but Jack only laughed at him again.

“Are you saying you _actually_ wanted to eat them?” 

“No! But they were _mine_! That rat is _mine_! Everything that comes into the labyrinth is _mine_!”

“You can have the case it was in if you want.” Jack motioned to the little box that the girl had filled up. “But it looks like you aren’t getting this rat-“

“Stop!” It had been such a long time since he had his last meal, the monster was somewhat desperate, “What do you want for it?” Jack was genuinely surprised by the question, not thinking the other would even entertain the idea of a trade. He was so sure that he wouldn’t that he hadn’t thought of what to ask from him. Asking him not to kill the next human was too much, he knew, but he would like to use this to his advantage.

“I’ll have to think on it.” 

“I want it now.” Pitch moved closer, making Jack grip the rat a bit tighter, “You can tell me what you want for it later.”

“Later?” Jack blinked. There was very little guarantee that Pitch would actually keep his end of the deal, but it would be really nice to have a lot of time to think on it- or perhaps use it at a time he needed something from the monster. It wasn’t like he could keep the rat away from Pitch forever, he would kill it the moment he let his guard down. “Do you promise?”

“I do!”

“Do what?”

“I promise!” The monster was obviously getting impatient now. Deciding not to test him anymore, Jack put the rat on the ground. It managed to get near the next corner before Pitch was upon it. The human had to press his back against the wall as the monster had expanded again, and he didn’t feel like waiting for the gunk to come off of him.

Jack went back to the task of throwing out the rotten vegetables, expecting that the monster would have killed the rat by the time he got back. He was thoroughly displeased to find out that he was wrong. Pitch was chasing the rat back and forth, the animal having no chance of escaping as the monster’s body could easily cover both of its exits in one movement. The monster plunged its many hands at the rodent, making it dodge around them, no doubt terrified. Pitch then grabbed the animal, tossing it from hand to hand before snapping it up in his mouth. Leaving his mouth ajar, he allowed the rat to escape, coated in goo, before he began to toy with it again.

The monster made a strange noise, which Jack somehow knew was a sound of pleasure. The human watched for a moment before turning away, the sight making him sick to his stomach. He could still hear the rat screaming as the monster played with it. It was very easy to imagine the monster doing the same to a human. This reminded Jack that the monster was no normal beast himself, but something with cruelty that far exceeded any man he had ever known. There was no reason to torture the poor creature, but the monster did it out of enjoyment. 

He flinched when he heard the final shrill squeak, regretting that he had not killed the rat himself to have kept it from such an awful experience. When he turned to look, the monster appeared to be jubilated in his own strange way. Pitch’s movements were light and excitable; he trotted around the corpse as if it would come back to life for more enjoyment. His eyes were slits curved upward and that terrible grin always portrayed a vile kind of glee.

“Leave.” Jack snapped, getting the monster’s attention. “I don’t want you near me anymore, Pitch.” The monster’s glee seemed to wilt away, he thought that it almost looked sad for a moment, but that vanished behind a mask of anger and frustration. Pitch skulked over to pick up the box from Sophie then stormed off.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Pitch couldn’t believe the nerve of that _child_. That he would claim what was not his and demand the true owner to pay for it. He regretted now making the decision to trade, while he had enjoyed his meal it was now gone, barely a scent expected to satiate his hunger. Then Jack Frost decided to order him _where_ to go! In his own labyrinth. The monster wouldn’t have gone if he hadn’t grown weary of the others presence. He wished he had made that clear so the human would not think that he was following his orders.

Instead of dwelling on that, he decided to look at the box he had taken away from the other containers. It was small and wooden, the top lifted off easily to reveal some fabric that was slightly stained and covered with crumbs. In the absolute darkness of the labyrinth’s center, his eyes could see perfectly fine- even better than in the light actually. So when he lifted the fabric to shake it off, he did not miss any detail of what was hidden beneath it.

A very small yellow butterfly was at the bottom, long dead, the coloration on it damaged by clumsy fingertips. The insect was as dried out as the few flowers that surrounded it. One of the wings was broken off as well, it was intact but off to the side. Using a claw, he gently moved the wing back into place, making the creature look whole again. The monster had never seen a butterfly, but part of him knew what it should look like.

Staring for a moment, he placed the lid back onto the box, leaving the piece of fabric out of it. The monster slowly put the box amongst his other things, exhaling a weary sigh. Curling up, he surveyed the center of his labyrinth with his many eyes, wondering when he would forget the meaning of his new addition like he had all of the others. Perhaps when he killed Jack, he would keep the boy’s weapon to remind himself of the human that had defied him for so long. But he had long forgotten the other man that he had killed, the one whose scythe now adorned the center of his labyrinth.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Coming up...  
> Jack is entirely mobile again, Jamie brings more food, and Jack's curiosity begins to get the best of him.


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I would still like to thank all of you for reading this! I just wanted to get this one up because I have a busy week coming up. Thank you so much for being patient and lovely readers!

Jack and Jamie had come up with an effective way of food being brought to the labyrinth without endangering the child. He would take food plus any other supplies and put them in the shade of the trees, which were nearly picked clean by Pitch. It was a much safer commute than climbing down the rocks and dragging the supplies along through the labyrinth. 

Pitch checked every night for supplies, never seeing Jamie as he put them there only during daylight hours as Jack instructed. There were small amounts of perishables, water, and articles of clothing left as well. Sophie continued to leave things for the monster, though he did his best to ignore them. When he smelled the familiar scent of the food that had been made for him the first time, he had knocked it away and left it to rot on the ground. She left pretty looking rocks, toys, and even a few drawings. 

One night he found a lone basket with a cloth over it, it didn’t smell like anything that had been brought for Jack to eat. The monster had dragged it closer to the entrance, trying to look inside of it. It tumbled into the labyrinth instead, the contents spilling all over him. He only let out an annoyed hiss before returning to Jack. 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Despite having told the monster to keep away from him, Pitch didn’t listen at all. Sometimes he tried to be stealthy about it and hide around the corner or in the shadows, other times he just stayed by Jack as if he hadn’t been told off at all. No matter how many times Jack reminded him to leave him alone, he was always back within a couple of hours. 

One of the most common times the creature was around him was when he slept, so it wasn’t strange to see him when he woke up. This time was different, however, as the only bright color he ever saw on Pitch was the glowing yellow. He rubbed his eyes to be sure he wasn’t seeing things and stared at the black that was now speckled with colors of all kinds. Once he realized just what he was seeing, he began to laugh, a sure way to upset the monster.

Spread throughout his body was an assortment of flowers, he couldn’t see any stems so he assumed they had been picked and brought that way. The culprit had to be Sophie, but he didn’t know how it had gotten all over Pitch. That the monster appeared to be unaware of how ridiculous he looked only made it so much funnier. The monster took it as a new attempt to get him to leave him be, so he tried not to look upset by the laughter.

“How many times have I told you to buzz off?” Jack asked, standing up and stretching. The monster shrank down to his more human form, and he couldn’t contain a chuckle at the way the flowers looked now. With the smaller body, they were much more prominent all over the monster, yet he still didn’t notice. None of them passed onto the grey flesh, though, staying in the blackness. 

The warrior stepped forward, tilting his head to the side as he eyed the other, his interest in the others corporealness sparking once again. “Hold this.” He told Pitch, giving his spear to him, the monster did so, staring at him blankly as he tried to figure out what Jack was up to. The human touched the hand that held his spear, surprised at the familiar feeling of flesh. His hand wasn’t warm like a human’s, but it wasn’t exactly cold either, and it felt like skin. His fingers didn’t pass through the others as he pressed against them. His exploration continued up Pitch's arm, and he could feel that the monster was very tense.

Looking at his face, he saw his eye was wide in surprise as he stared at the other’s actions, appearing baffled by the foreign feeling of being touched. “Don’t worry, I’m not going to hurt you.” Jack teased, making the monster huff and glare before turning his head away, but he kept still otherwise. The human pressed against his arm, his hand sinking in to the blackness, but instead of going through all the way he was met with resistance. It felt like there really was an arm under there, though it wasn’t textured like one. Unlike his hand, there was no feeling of skin, it could have been just any solid shaped like an arm, he doubted there would be a normal looking one if the shadows parted.

Moving his hand to the other’s abdomen, it felt somewhat similar to the arm, the human hesitated before putting his hand over a certain spot on the other’s chest, pressing into it. He grew very still, holding it there for a minute before confirming what he had believed; there was no heartbeat. He shifted his attention to the creature’s other hand, taking it in his own and examining it. He turned it over, feeling his palm and every crease in it, surprised at just how human it looked. Glancing up to the monster once more, he saw Pitch was watching him now with fascination on the human side of his face, as if he was learning something along with Jack. The human crouched down, only taking a moment to try and flip up the darkness that he saw as robes, but he couldn’t even get a grip on the edge of it.

“Lower your head a bit.” He told Pitch when he stood back up, surprised when the other did as he asked, but not as surprised as the monster was by Jack’s next action. Jack clasped either side of his face with both hands, pulling it down so it was level with his own. Jack’s eyes narrowed as he scrutinized every detail, the monster’s eye was the widest he had ever seen it, the pupil small and thin as it focused on Jack. The monster’s body was never completely still, but Jack noticed that it had slowed its motions significantly, like Pitch was almost stunned. His fingers traveled across the human side, feeling each small wrinkle and going along the concave of his cheekbone. Jack was stunned to feel something like hair above the top of the human half of his head, though the strands were mixed with the darkness that mimicked it. 

When Jack let go, the monster stayed in the same position, not moving even as Jack took the spear out of his hand. The warrior was now covered in black slime with several of the flowers that were on Pitch now sticking to him. Jack grinned at Pitch, spinning around his spear and jabbing him straight through the eye on his human face. After seeing how solid his form was like this, he was sure that he could do damage to it. Instead, blackness spread from the wound and across the monster’s face, quickly swallowing up any of the grey as the monster swelled, roaring down at Jack.

“JACK FROST!”

“Damn, I thought that would work.”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Attacking him had the opposite effect of what Jack had thought it would. Pitch hung around him even more now and was almost always in his half human form. He never offered any explanation, so Jack only assumed it was some sort of challenge or taunt. The flowers on the monster had all either fallen off or wilted beyond recognition, serving as a reminder of the human’s own hygienic needs. As he expected, the monster threw a fit when he stepped out of the labyrinth and onto the beach. 

“I’ll be back.” Jack assured him, “I just need to clean myself off and all my clothes.” He had thought changing his clothes often enough would keep him clean, but soon it became clear that he would have to wash himself as well. And as he wasn’t going to waste drinking water on a bath, he had to go outside for it.  
First he washed off his clothes, glancing back to the labyrinth every so often to see Pitch thrashing about and pacing. Once he was finished and had laid out his clothing to dry in the sun, the monster had calmed down enough to stay still. Jack was tempted to pretend that he was going to climb up the cliff to rile him up again, but he decided against it as he was itching to get clean. 

When he got into the water, he took off the rest of his clothing, washing it and laying it on one of the rocks that protruded out of the water. He started cleaning himself, surprised at how much dirt had built up on his skin. It was hard to tell just how he looked while he was in the labyrinth with the limited amount of light. Looking back to the labyrinth, he paused, seeing all the eyes staring right at him. He frowned, not liking his privacy being invaded like that. But as he was sure the monster was trying to do it to unnerve him, he acted like he wasn’t bothered.

Jack ignored him until he was done, frowning when he saw that the monster’s gaze had not shifted an inch. Instead of getting out right away, he decided to swim for a while, not feeling comfortable coming out of the water with the monster staring. He soon forgot about the other as he enjoyed himself. The sun felt wonderful on his skin, the water keeping him from being too warm, and the breeze that the sea brought was the most delightful sensation of all. The sounds alone were exquisite, not muffled or silenced by thick walls of stone. He saw animals; birds, fish, crabs, none of them tormented by fear. It was unbelievable how such a simple task could remind him so much of the life he missed.  
He swam for a couple more hours, but still the monster had not moved from his position. Getting over his inhibitions, the human got out of the water, putting on the clean clothing he had saved to wear. The rest of his clothes had to be turned over and left to dry for longer. When he walked into the labyrinth, he shook a sand coated foot, glancing up at the large monster that was still focused on the outside. As soon as Jack stepped into the shadows, the monster began smelling him like a bloodhound. 

“Cut it out, you freak.” Jack said, swatting at him to no avail, he held the gunk covered hand out into the light to make it vanish. He stood there, letting Pitch sniff him as much as he liked. Just when he was about to move away from Pitch, he snorted and turned to stare back out at the ocean. Shaking his head, Jack swore he would never understand how the monster’s mind worked.

After ascending the stairs, he turned to walk back toward where he usually stayed, but was stopped by a nagging thought. Turning, he stared in the opposite direction and realization hit him. Jack had never gone past the door that led to the stairs, there had been no reason to. None of the entrances were there, and if there was an exit, the one Pitch was at would be closer anyways. What exactly _was_ down that way? Changing his direction, he decided he was going to find out. The warrior strode boldly down the curving path toward the center of the labyrinth.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What will Jack find? And how will the monster react?


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally up!  
> Thank you all for your patience.

The way to the center of the labyrinth was long; there were no turns, only an inward spiral. Jack slowly noticed the light was growing weaker as he continued, there were less holes above him to provide any sort of illumination. Jack didn’t come upon a single remnant of a human being, which meant this was the only place in the labyrinth that the monster had not ‘decorated’. Why was that? Did he store all the extra bodies in the center? Did he think the light was too low for anyone to be scared by them? Or did he never expect anyone to come down this way?

Whatever the reason, Jack was thankful for it, as the light was almost completely gone, and he would be tripping over bones if it wasn’t clean back here. When it was too dark for him to see, he slowed his pace, leaving a hand placed against a wall as he moved. The wall finally made a turn after a bit, and he moved with it, it took only a few steps before he realized this was no longer the hallways of the labyrinth, but in the large center.

He couldn’t see anything, the only thing he could hear was his own breath, and the temperature had dropped at least a few degrees. The rest of the labyrinth had the illusion of connection to the world above, but this place made it seem like it was in an entirely separate realm. Jack didn’t turn back, though, wanting to search the area. 

It wouldn’t have surprised him if there was nothing here, but his cautious shuffling found him stubbing his toe on something. He crouched and felt the object, his hand moving along a pole before reaching the end of the weapon. When he felt the shape of the blade, he knew what it was; a war scythe. The blade was larger than any he had known to be used as a weapon, and when he picked it up he found it to be very heavy. It would be difficult to use for too long in battle, so whoever had owned it was either a fool or a powerful warrior. 

After he put the weapon down again, he used his own to feel the ground in front of him. The metal impacted with more metal, but this was lighter, as it actually scattered away, hitting even more metal. Picking up and feeling a few of the pieces, he figured that this hand been armor, now torn to pieces. It had been separated by the seams, though, as he felt no damage to the armor. 

Why, of all things, would Pitch put _these_ things in here? Jack thought it might be a memento from another warrior, but he quickly rejected that idea. Pitch seemed to like _wearing_ his trophies, and he would definitely have bragged to Jack about killing this person. There was only one reason he could think of that would lead to Pitch keeping his large mouth shut.

This armor and weapon, they had to be his weakness. That was why he kept them so deep in the labyrinth! He couldn’t throw them out without risking them being found, so he tried to keep them as far from the humans as possible. Jack didn’t need the armor, as the monster was unable to harm him, but he was going to keep the weapon.

Carrying both of the weapons now, he searched the rest of the area much faster. He found a book, which could possibly have secrets about fighting the monster. He tucked it in under the leather strap across his chest to hold it in place, tightening it a bit more for security. The rest of the area was barren besides a locket. He managed to open it, but he couldn’t see anything, so he tried to feel what was inside of it. The loud rip that came from the image made him close it hastily and place it back on the ground. There was one last oddity that he located on his way out by accident.

Unlike the other things, he couldn’t easily identify what it was. He got onto his hands and knees, feeling it to try and figure out what he had found. It was something lumpy, he thought, wrapped in folds of cloth. Feeling along, he tried to feel what was inside of it, and he reached the end faster than he thought he would. His fingers went through long strands of-

_Hair?!_

Jack stumbled back with a spark of fear, calming after his moment of shock. It was a body, a rather small one, all wrapped up besides the hair that came from the top. He moved back over to the corpse, frowning in concern and confusion. Who was this? Why were they wrapped up like this? Why would they be in here?

The monster’s presence was quickly known, as the light in the absolute darkness was obvious. Jack grabbed the two weapons, spinning to face Pitch as he stood again. He was making what sounded like a mix of a hiss, gurgle, and snarl. Whatever the noise was, it clearly conveyed how enraged he was.

“GET YOUR HANDS OFF OF _MY_ THINGS!”

Jack didn’t answer him, instead trying to balance the new weapon properly. There was no way he could hold both it and his own weapon, so he threw his, knowing it would go through Pitch and land outside the center of the labyrinth. Grabbing the handle of the war scythe with both hands, he ran at the monster with a yell.

He didn’t bother to see if what he was doing was working, only getting in as many hits as possible. The screeches from the monster were deafening, all he could see were the lights from the monster and the occasional flash of claws in front of them as he felt Pitch try to attack him back. 

The light from the monster shrank as he did, and Jack was surprised by the sudden grip on the weapon he held. “Give it back to me!” Pitch demanded as he tried to pull it away from the human. Jack’s hold was stronger on it, and just as he thought he was going to pull it away from Pitch, the monster let go.

The warrior fell back, feeling parts of the armor lying around digging into him painfully as well as the heavy weapon slamming against his chest and hands. His grip had loosened on the weapon as he reacted to the minor injuries, and the monster easily took it away from him. Jack got up as quickly as he could, thankful that he hadn’t been cut or gouged, but he would definitely be badly bruised.

The small amount of light that the monster had been producing allowed Jack’s eyes to adjust, not enough to make out details, but he could easily make out Pitch’s silhouette with the war scythe in his hand. The way he stood and held it made it appear natural, while Jack was certain he looked off balance with it himself.

“You can’t keep that from me forever, Pitch. I will kill you with it.”

“You can’t even kill me with your own weapon, Frost, how do you expect to use one you can’t even hold properly?”

“Because it-“ Jack paused, frustrated, the monster wasn’t acting intimidated at all by the weapon. “Give it to me and I’ll prove that I can!” He jumped when Pitch suddenly tossed it in front of him.

“Once you’re done swinging it at me, leave it here.” 

“Why?”

“Because it is _mine_ and you are not supposed to be in here!” Pitch growled, “So be quick with it and leave!”

“Quick with- This doesn’t hurt you?” 

“No! Why would it?” Pitch sneered at him, “If you want to argue with me then do it elsewhere.” The monster walked toward him and Jack picked up the war scythe, but he was ignored as the monster began examining the area around him with eyes that could see every detail through the darkness. “You’ve been going through all of my things!” 

“I’ve gone through your other things in the labyrinth. Why’s what’s in here so special?” As Pitch seemed to think everything that passed through the entrances belonged to him. But he never seemed to get this angry when Jack touched the rest of the mementos spread throughout the labyrinth. 

“Because…” Pitch faltered, thinking hard, “Because these are _my_ things!” he answered again, this time advancing on Jack as his body grew again. “OUT!” he roared, shoving against Jack, though the only thing the action did was get Jack covered in black goo.

“Alright! I’m leaving!” Jack huffed, more upset that his plan hadn’t worked than the way Pitch was treating him. The monster continued to tail him, his body so large that it filled up the hallway behind Jack, making it look like he couldn’t pass. He was tempted to go through him just to spite the monster, but he didn’t feel like getting covered in gunk.

Once Jack had made it to the stairs that led down to the beach, Pitch moved back and headed toward the center of the labyrinth again. The warrior snorted, going down to the door so the light could clean him and his weapon off. It was then that he saw the notebook again, still tucked safely against his chest. He wondered why Pitch hadn’t said anything about it; maybe he hadn’t noticed it? 

He had often heard that words could be just as powerful as weapons, and in this case he was willing to put faith in that theory. There could be information on Pitch and how to stop him written in these very pages.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Jack tries to decipher the contents of the book, but he finds himself distracted by unexpected guests.


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahhh, sorry this took so long. Life has been hectic.  
> I planned to get this up earlier since it's such a short chapter... but better late than never I suppose!

The book was _ancient_. Its condition was not a sign of this, as it was very well preserved. Rather it was the way that the book had been written. The alphabet was similar to the one they had, but even if he could decipher it he couldn’t understand the words. They were outdated, either never used or only used by the well-educated. Jack wasn’t the best of readers to begin with, thinking that reading was a boring way to spend time, so him being able to translate this was out of the question. 

He could make out a few things about it, though. He knew it was a journal and that it was dated (he only wished the year had been included so he could know just how old it was). And from what he had been able to read he was certain that the writer was a female and there had been multiple mentions of a military in it. He considered asking Pitch about it, only because the monster hadn’t noticed that the journal was gone. But there was still the chance that he might actually care about it and try to take it when Jack was unaware. The warrior had not had a chance to ask him anyways, the monster hadn’t shown himself since Jack had ‘trespassed’.

Jack had quit another attempt to read the journal when he felt the beginning of a headache. Just as he was going to get water to try and fix it, he heard the familiar sound of one of the entrances being opened. With the continued absence of Pitch, he hurried to where a pair of sacrifices had just been lowered. 

The human was a bit surprised to see that he recognized the two men. His heart dropping as he knew the danger they were in. They were both older than he, he remembered seeing them frequently at the market. He had never gotten their names, but he remembered their deeds well enough. The farmers were often found giving bruised or too ripe produce to those who couldn’t afford it. He and his sister had gone to their stands often enough to pick from the unsellable food. 

“Jack-“ One of them began, but he knew there was no time for pleasantries, the monster could attack at any moment.

“We have to get going. We can talk later.” Jack said quickly, “Stay close to me.” They followed as he hurried ahead, constantly looking back and forth for signs of the monster. He couldn’t help but wonder _why_ these two had been sent down. They weren’t too old to tend their farms and they had no successors as far as he knew. Had they sold their farms? No. Owning something so important was an assurance that they would not be sacrificed, which was worth far more than gold. Had a daughter married someone to replace them as the head of the household? Even if they both had daughters he doubted that they would coincidently get married. The only thing he could think of was that they both committed a crime… but what would drive them to that? If they died here it could lead to the downfall of their family.

“Jack?” His thoughts were interrupted as one of them spoke, “Do you mind if I hold onto your shield?” The warrior could tell by his voice alone how nervous the man was, so he happily obliged and gave him the shield. Just so the other wouldn’t feel unprotected, he gave him his spear. 

“I’ll just need them back when we leave.” The two items would do nothing to harm Pitch, but if it helped them to feel more secure then they might have a chance of leaving this place alive. Jack didn’t want anyone to be killed by the monster; but he knew seeing someone he knew be killed would be far worse to watch.

Something hit him hard in the back of the head as soon as he turned around, knocking him down onto the ground. The headache that had threatened came in full force, the ringing in his ears worsening it. He was dazed for a moment, rolling onto his back to try and see what was happening. The end of his spear went through his arm and onto the ground, thankfully missing the bone. Jack vaguely realized that if he had remained on his back the weapon would have pierced his heart.

It felt worse coming out, the barbed shape of the spear tearing his skin as it was jerked out hastily- he had barely been able to bite back a scream. Jack scrambled back and onto his feet as the weapon was thrust at him again. He turned and ran, not being able to act in any other way. His mind was trying to catch up with his body as he fled; totally unprepared for this situation. His vision was blurred from the hit, and in this darkness it made him blind. He hit more walls than he cared to count, finally tripping over one of the bodies that Pitch had laid out. A hand grabbed the back of his shirt before he could try to get up again. 

He jabbed his captor with his elbow, wriggling away and turning to face them. It couldn’t be anyone but the two men- they had his weapon and shield and they were the only corporeal beings in the labyrinth. Despite these facts he was still shocked to see them there, both prepared to attack him. They didn’t relent, though, and he found himself having to block with his arm bracers as he was attacked by the blade on his weapon.

Each blow that hit his damaged arm made blood gush out of the wound as he defended. The man was able to cut him several times as well and Jack could feel himself growing progressively weaker. Even unarmed a trained soldier wouldn’t be taking such a beating from a pair of farmers, but Jack didn’t want to harm the men. His weak defense and lack of offense soon had him down on the ground again, with the two men looming over him.

His whole body ached; he had left himself completely open to the blunt attack of the shield in order to keep from being skewered by his own spear. The cuts on him stung and the injury on his arm felt as if it were ablaze. Jack didn’t understand why this was happening. Why anyone would want to kill him. Why _they_ would want to kill him. He was the hero! He was going to kill the monster and save them all! Didn’t they want that? 

“Stop… you have to leave.” He tried, still wanting them to get out safely despite their actions. “He’ll kill you if you don’t.”

“We weren’t expecting to make it out alive.” One of the men said grimly, confusing Jack further. The warrior wasn’t worried for his own life, but rather the lives his death would cost. What would happen to his sister and mother? Jamie and his family? The rest of the city? If these men killed him there was no way they would make it out. The sacrifices would continue for gods know how long until there was someone fearless enough to resist Pitch. 

“ _Why?_ ”

He didn’t get an answer as the man with the shield held him down, restraining him so he couldn’t dodge any more attacks. The spear was pulled back to strike, and from here Jack could see that the point was now aimed directly at his head.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ~~Jack is dead the end~~  
>  How will Jack get out of this?  
> Why are these two attacking him (go ahead and comment your guesses!)  
> Everything will be revealed next chapter!


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> UH. THIS IS REALLY LATE.  
> But! I found something amazing  
> http://doodlecri.tumblr.com/post/64315026852/trying-to-draw-monster-pitch-from-erebus  
> More fanart that I had never seen! Even though it's old! Take a look at it, it's awesome!

Jack was tense, ready to raise his least injured arm to block the blow, but he didn’t think he could do much at this range and at his current strength level. The spear was pulled back for the strike, just as something dark dripped onto it. The black fluid traveled down to the tip of the spear, being flung off from the shaking of the spear. The man’s trembling only increased as he was being covered in drops of the foul substance.

“Don’t look up.” The man with the shield said, “Just kill him.” He was frozen to the spot, and though his voice was steady it was strained and weak.

Jack had a clear view of Pitch, the monster’s eyes making it easier for him to see the two men who had faces as pale as his hair. Pitch let out a growl that sounded like a groan mixed with a rapid clicking noise. The monster didn’t seem to care about the weapon aimed at the warrior, who could tell how much Pitch was enjoying the two men’s terror. And just as the armed man seemed to be gaining his wits, large jaws clamped down over his shoulders, the scream not remotely muffled by Pitch’s hold on his head. Instead of using the spear to attack Pitch, the man’s panic caused him to drop it and try to grasp the monster’s face with his hands. 

Pitch lifted his head, the man’s legs kicked as they left the ground, flinging the black fluid all over Jack. Before Jack could say anything he felt something sharp pressed against his throat, the unsteady hand holding the weapon kept him completely still. 

“Let him go.” The man holding the knife to his throat spoke so quietly that Jack was certain he was the only one who heard. But the monster’s attention was on him and Jack now. “I’ll kill him!” he yelled, his grip growing more stable, “Unless you put him down and let us leave.” The monster didn’t move, only staring him down. Jack could feel the courage and resolve quickly drain from the man who held him captive, his grip losing confidence. If he hadn’t been hurt he could have easily knocked the man off balance, but he wouldn’t chance it while he was wounded. The man in Pitch’s jaws had screamed himself hoarse, now he was only making ragged sobbing sounds. 

After a few more moments Pitch’s jaw opened and dropped the human, moving over him and toward Jack and his captor. Jack could feel the knife press closer against his neck, but it relaxed slightly when Pitch turned and moved down one of the passageways. The man’s eyes never left Pitch, but he was still caught off guard as one of the monster’s limbs grabbed the wrist that held the knife. There was a loud crack as Pitch jerked the hand back, and Jack felt blood spurt onto his face. He fell back as the man was swung into the air, his scream cut off sharply as he was thrown against a wall. Pitch immediately lost interest in the unconscious human, going back to the man he had first attacked. 

“Stop it!” Jack yelled at Pitch, “Get away from him!” He tried to get back up, but an intense pain in his abdomen had him crying out in agony. The monster’s size diminished, even from the back Jack could tell that he was only human shaped in silhouette by the long claws he kept instead of hands. 

“You had your chance to kill him before I did, Frost. It isn’t my fault that you failed.” Pitch responded as he picked up the man by the front of the shirt, lifting him up and letting him hang off the ground as his claws dug slightly into his skin. “By the way you try and fight me I would think that you could hold your own against other humans.”

Jack stared in disbelief, the only sound for a moment being the man’s rapid praying and the monster’s quiet chuckling. “I’m- I wasn’t trying to kill them! Why would I do that?!” He had no idea how Pitch came up with that conclusion. But he wished that he hadn’t told the monster he was wrong. His loose body language changed as he gripped the man harder, his claws beginning to disappear into the flesh. The chuckle had turned to a growl, the volume of it loud enough to be heard of the human’s renewed screams. 

“ _They_ attacked you?” He didn’t wait for an answer, “ _You_ tried to kill him?” The question to the farmer was warped as the monster shifted. His now large form blocking Jack’s view of the man, but he could hear what the monster was doing to him. Normally he would just suck the life out of them, the sound of flesh tearing and bones snapping proved he was doing otherwise. 

Jack knew it was too late for that human, so he made his way over to the other one, dragging his shield with him as pain wracked his body. He looked over the man, feeling for his breath and a heartbeat. He quickly surveyed his injuries before looking to Pitch, having heard him finally feed off of the human and put him out of his misery.

Pitch’s incisors were coated in blood and several strands of viscera hung from his mouth as he focused on the unconscious human. “You aren’t going to kill this one. I won’t let you.” Usually Pitch was amused by Jack’s attempts to threaten him, but he was clearly upset instead. When he shrunk back down his teeth were still stained with blood, which actually looked more disturbing on the more normal side of his face than the monstrous one.

“They were going to kill you.” Pitch hissed, “Get away from the human before he wakes and tries again.” The monster grabbed the limp body, but Jack lay down across the man, glaring up at Pitch defiantly as he kept him from moving the human. “Why do you want him to live?!”

“Because he doesn’t deserve this! No one does!”

“He tried to kill you! Do you not understand?”

“No, I don’t! I know he was trying to kill me, but I don’t know why!” Jack looked down at the other human, “I want to know why. There had to be a good reason.”  
“His actions cannot be justified.” Pitch snapped, “We will find out why he did this, though.” 

Jack knew that he couldn’t keep the monster from killing once they had got their answers, but it was better to buy as much time as he could. “He’ll bleed out and die before he wakes up.” Grabbing the fallen dagger he used it to cut through the man’s shirt. He sliced up several ribbons of fabric, tying them onto the broken wrist. The bone was pushing through the skin, making it difficult to bandage, but he was able to stop the bleeding.

He hadn’t been paying attention to Pitch, but he suddenly felt pressure on his arm where his own wound was. Flinching away, he glared at the monster, seeing him holding a few of the spare pieces of fabric in his hands. “What are-“ His question was answered as Pitch tried to tie the fabric on Jack’s arm where his wound was. “No, you do it like this.” Jack directed Pitch so he could put on a decent temporary bandage, knowing it would be awkward to put it on himself. “Why are you doing this?” Jack wanted to clarify.  
“So you don’t bleed to death. It’s what you were doing for the other human.”

“But you’d let him do that? I didn’t see you trying to stop the bleeding on him.”

“You would die without being afraid.” Pitch said, “I can easily devour this human even if he was dying.”

“How would you do that while he’s unconscious?”

“You humans are easy to wake up.” The next thing Pitch did made him regret asking. He grabbed the bone that was sticking out from the bandages and twisted it hard. The man screamed in pain, he was half dazed and looking around wildly as he tried to understand what was going on. One of Pitch’s hands regained its claws; he used it to slash at the man’s face, partially tearing open his cheek. He then grabbed the man’s face and forced him to look into his eyes. 

“Why did you come to kill Jack Frost?” He didn’t raise his voice, but it sounded just as intimidating to the man he was questioning. “Your suffering will not end until you tell me.” The human made no signs of forming coherent sentences, and Pitch grabbed the protruding bone again, yanking it out instead of just twisting it. 

“PITCH!” Jack yelled over the human’s scream, “Stop it!” The warrior tried to push past the monster, only succeeding in agitating his own injuries. 

“Fine. But you keep your distance, Frost. Or I will mutilate him until he is no longer a threat.” Jack nodded, though he didn’t think the human was much of a threat at all right now.

“Hey, listen to me.” Jack hated pushing the man to talk while he was so hurt, but he knew if he didn’t say something soon Pitch would attack him again. “Can you talk? Why did you two try to kill me?”

“F-Family. Our-” He gripped his wrist, squeezing it to try and stop the pain. Pitch’s annoyed growl prompted him to keep speaking. “They would never have to be s-sacrificed if we killed you. They- they promised.”

“What? Who promised?”

“The priests.”

“The- what?! Why?! Why would they do that?” Jack found it unbelievable, but his thoughts were broken as Pitch let out a roar so loud that he had to cover his ears. The monster grew and immediately attacked the man, sucking the life out of him. Pitch continued to roar as he bolted away from Jack and down one of the passageways.

Lowering his hands, he stared after Pitch before looking down at the dead man, “You’re joking.” He breathed out, “You’re lying- Tell me the truth!” The warrior felt lightheaded, his body trembled as he sunk completely to the ground. The last thing he heard was the distant bellowing of the monster before he passed out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Jack needs a nap and Pitch is having some anger issues. 
> 
> Also, you guys had great guesses. The whole answer didn't come up in this chapter, but it will in the next one.


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Look at this great art I found in my time of silence! :'D  
> http://guardian-of-da-gay.tumblr.com/post/91375402233
> 
> Pitch is loud a lot in this, so to avoid caps and having this be too overly obnoxious, instead of caps it will be in **bold**
> 
> Sorry I took so long on this, life has been hectic

The first sensation he felt was that of confinement, the excess of heat around him was next, and finally the pain in his body. He moved his less injured arm, pushing away what was restraining him with ease. He sat up to see he had been loosely swaddled in blankets, before he could wonder how and why he was like this, Pitch’s large head loomed over him, tilted to the side to examine him. 

“What’s with all this?” Jack asked, rubbing at his eyes with the back of his sleeve. He saw that around him was all of the food they had stocked down here. Pitch shrunk to his more human form, crouching down by Jack.

“You were not waking. No matter what I did.” He picked up a carrot and held it out to Jack. “Eat.”

“How long was I out?” Jack shifted some of the fabric away, his body twitching with each agitated injury. 

“Night is just beginning.” Jack’s eyes widened at the idea of him being unconscious for so long. “Do I need to cut it for you?” Pitch questioned, the hand holding the carrot already shifting to claws.

“No.” Jack took it, when he bit into it he realized how hungry he really was. He ate more of the food that Pitch passed, drinking water out of a vase as he did so. He recalled what had happened when Pitch attacked the human holding him hostage, how the blood had splattered onto his face. He instantly lost his appetite, instead pouring some water into his hands to wash the blood off of him. He was surprised to see nothing come off on the blanket he had wiped his face on. Had Pitch cleaned the blood off of him while he was unconscious? The monster had thought to change the bandaging on his arm, but that was entirely different from wiping his face off.

“Are you going to die?” The sudden question caught Jack by surprise. 

“Uh _no_.” he said, his tone implying that it was obvious. 

“Good. They have failed.” The monster glanced up with a sneer.

“Pitch… Why did you think that I had been the one trying to kill them first?”

“To prevent me from killing them.”

“… _What_?” That had to be the stupidest, most backward logic he had ever heard. “What good would that do?! They would still be dead either way!”

“But I wouldn’t be able to feed off of them that way.”

“I didn’t come here because I wanted to kill you! I came here because I wanted to save everyone!”

“You have to make sacrifices to get what you want, Frost.”

“No! No more sacrifices!” Jack stood suddenly, making his vision spin and his body protest as pain shot through him. 

“Calm down.” Pitch said, watching Jack’s precarious stance, “You are in no condition to argue and I am in no mood to.” Once Jack sat down again, Pitch returned to his larger form. Instead of leaving as Jack expected, Pitch just went to the end of the hall, lying down in plain sight. 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

It soon became apparent that Pitch had decided that he was not leaving Jack’s side. While he wasn’t always watching him (or at least Jack hadn’t seen his eyes in those moments), he was always by him or right around the corner. Jack’s nightmares grew continually worse, because even if Pitch was across the room when he went to sleep, he would wake to find himself completely surrounded by the monster’s body when he woke. Several times he rolled over and would be woken by the cold contact of the creature, or he would wake up bleary eyed and accidentally walk through the monster, coating himself in gunk. 

After several times of this, Jack decided he was fed up with the morning routine, “Do you have to sleep right next to me?” he asked, sitting up as a dozen of Pitch’s eyes followed his movements. “Don’t tell me nightmares have been keeping you up.”

“I do not sleep.” Pitch corrected once he had shifted to a smaller size, never failing to mistake Jack’s sarcasm for sincerity.

“Then what are you doing?” Jack didn’t think that the monster was trying to scare him, or he would be snapping at him or lunging as soon as he woke up, and there certainly wasn’t anything entertaining to be done while he was unconscious. “Why do you keep hanging around me? Don’t you have anything better to do?” He might have suspected that Pitch drew some power from his nightmares, but that wouldn’t explain why he was sticking close to him even while he was awake.

“Because you are foolish and in poor condition.” Jack stared at him, not understanding his vague reply. Pitch caught onto his confusion rather quickly, “Humans were sent here to kill you.” Pitch spat, leaning over Jack, a scowl on his face. “You did nothing to stop them- you even tried to _help_ them. More will come. And I will not let you get yourself killed!” 

Jack was stunned, Pitch’s response being far off from the minor annoyance or dismissive attitude he usually took when he did something the monster thought was unwise. The intensity in Pitch’s face vanished as he straightened again, though a slight scowl still remained on his human side. “Thanks for the concern, Pitch, that’s … sweet of you?” 

The monster snorted, “I didn’t let illness or starvation take you. I will certainly not allow a human to kill you before I do.” 

“Touching.” Jack couldn’t help but smirk, still finding Pitch’s way of thinking to be way to messed up to comprehend, “And here I thought you didn’t care.” 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Jack stayed sedentary for a few days, in hopes that his wounds would heal better. Normally he would push past his pain to patrol, but with the monster following him around like a bad smell, there was no use trying to beat him to any sacrifices. He couldn’t deny that he was having fun telling the monster he needed something and seeing if he would actually go fetch it. It was even more fun to hide before he came back and listen to the monster as he searched frantically for him again.

The human was in the midst of a recurring nightmare; one that he had so many times that he knew exactly what was going to happen. So when a new growl echoed through his nightmare, he knew that something was amiss. He awoke to find Pitch curled around him, but his head was up and focused on something Jack couldn’t sense. The monster moved before Jack could speak, leaving him completely alone on his own accord for the first time since the attack.

Knowing whatever was going on was serious, Jack didn’t hesitate to get up and follow the monster’s trail. He didn’t run, but he kept up a quick pace, not wanting to hurt himself on the way there. As he suspected, the monster was at one of the entrances to the labyrinth. Jack made it just as a woman was being lowered, Jack called out to her, but his voice was completely lost as Pitch roared at the priests.

“ **No!** ” All movement seemed to stop, the cage wasn’t even lowered all the way to the ground, swinging back and forth in the air. The woman inside seemed to reason that the cage wouldn’t keep her safe from the monster, she jumped the rest of the distance. Her landing was messy, she fell to the ground, getting up and staring at Pitch. His focus remained above, however, and she bolted down the corridor, bumping into Jack rather roughly as she passed him. The warrior didn’t try to aid her escape, she was running in the right direction, and the best he could do was to give her time by stalling the monster. 

“ **That is not the offering I require!** ” To Jack, the priests were completely quiet, but Pitch obviously heard something he hadn’t, “ **Silence!** ” he commanded, circling the small amount of moonlight slipping in through the entrance. As none of their shadows appeared in the light, Jack could tell that the priests were keeping their distance. 

“ **You _dare_ take what is mine! Did you think I would believe those men killed a fellow sacrifice of their own accord? Your instruments’ last words were your names! I will not allow this theft remain unpunished!** ” Jack could clearly hear the monster’s breathing- and as the monster didn’t need to breathe, he knew it meant he was scenting the fear of the priests.

“ **Come tomorrow night, the ones responsible for conspiring against me are to be sacrificed!** ” Pitch didn’t add a threat for if they failed to do as he said, knowing that one was not necessary. The priests offered no arguments, explanations, pleas, nor agreement to the monster’s demand. Pitch’s back arched as he drew in a deep breath before letting out an ear shattering roar. Jack didn’t even hear the priests’ hasty retreat, but he made out the quick sound of footsteps as one returned to pull up the cage and close the entrance again. He could tell that the man was trembled terribly by the movements of the cage alone, it shook as if it were as frightened as its handler. 

The monster turned and walked past Jack, not bothering to shrink himself at all and getting the human covered in black. But Jack paid no mind at all to it, still in a daze from what had just occurred. His view on the labyrinth and the sacrifices had changed drastically after being here for so long. But nothing could have prepared him for something this drastic. No priest had _ever_ been sacrificed- it was something that just did not happen.

“Pitch!” he called out, not sure if the monster was too far to hear him or was just ignoring him. Jack first went to the exit, satisfied when he saw fresh footprints down on the beach. Then he went to find the monster, glad he had stayed in his larger form as it made him easier to follow. 

The monster was in a strange position, he was holding himself up off of the ground with his face pressed against the ceiling. He could hear him simultaneously snuffling and making pleased guttural sounds and it made Jack’s brow furrow in confusion.

“What in the- What are you _doing_?” But Pitch didn’t answer, far too focused on whatever he was doing. So Jack just sat down to wait for him to finish up, asking random questions to try and get the monster’s attention. After being asked what his favourite dessert was, Pitch turned to look at Jack, lowering himself to the ground as he shrank down.

“What is a ‘dessert’?” 

“Nevermind.” Jack shook his head, “What were you doing for so long?”

“They were discussing what I had told them.” Jack blinked, thinking a moment before reasoning that they must be directly underneath the temple.

“You can hear them?”

“No.” The human scowled at his answer, now knowing that the monster had spent that whole time just smelling their fear. 

“Are you really going to kill them?”

“Of course. Do you think I invited them down here just to chastise them personally? And I will only be killing one of them.”

“Really? You would let the others live?”

“No. They will likely only send one. I’m certain all of them were involved in this, but they aren’t all going to throw themselves down here.”

“Why did…” Jack faltered, “Why did you tell them they succeeded? I’m still alive.”

“If they think you are dead, they won’t send anyone else to kill you.”

Jack blinked, watching Pitch for a moment, “You’re risking your reputation for me?” He knew how important appearances were to the monster, as that’s all he really seemed to have. So saying that humans had beaten him to killing Jack was being defeated in its own way.

“Don’t put too much thought into it, Frost.” Pitch didn’t sound upset at all by the idea, in fact he sounded in better spirits than he usually did. “Do what you need to in order to prepare for tonight. You’re going to be there to find out why they want you dead.”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Jack felt a tight knot inside his stomach, the feeling worsening as he saw that Pitch was feeling near the opposite. He made no mention of the woman who had just escaped, and he was acting like he had just eaten a particularly large meal. His giddiness showed through in his movements and expressions, the many eyes smiling as much as his constant grin- and Jack could have sworn he went through the closest thing to a skip a monster could manage. Once night fell, the human had difficulty keeping up with him after the tenth time he had circled the labyrinth to check each of the entrances. Jack remained by the entrance closest to the temple; certain that the priests wouldn’t want to draw any attention from the villagers.

And he was right, soon he could hear faint sounds above him, Jack expected Pitch to appear at any moment. But even as the cage lowered and the man stepped out, there was no sign of the monster. Jack had kept out of sight, not wanting to be seen alive, knowing that Pitch had a valid point. Looking behind himself to check if Pitch was lurking, he stepped out into view. He had only listened to the arrival of the priest, his imagination telling him what it looked like, but he had been far off.

He didn’t know if their composure and expression was a visage they put on for the villagers, but he hardly recognized the man before him. He was not kept in his priest clothing, what he was wearing was so common that it was unsettling, and he looked absolutely terrified. Jack didn’t help, the man stared at him like he had seen a ghost (and perhaps he believed that based on the information Pitch had given them). 

Jack was at loss for a bit, not knowing what he was to do. He couldn’t think of anything to say- nothing to ask or accuse the man of. He opened his mouth as if to speak, but snapped it shut quickly. This was one of the men that had come for his sister- that had sent him down here and chose to send so many more down despite that. If that wasn’t enough, he had also wanted Jack dead when the monster had failed to kill him. 

He turned away, closing his eyes and taking in a deep breath before facing the other human again. Still not being able to conjure up a voice, he motioned for the other to follow him. It took a bit for the priest to actually get moving, but Jack didn’t rush him; only moving forward through the labyrinth, ready for Pitch to jump out. He had never seen Pitch so excited for a sacrifice, and he was certain that meant he had planned something awful for the man.

So when they made it to the stairs without any incident, he was incredibly suspicious, going down them slowly. But the path was entirely clear, not even a splash of the monster’s darkness in sight. Pitch could arrive any moment, though, so he had to get the other moving.

“Go.” Was the first thing he said to him, motioning to the exit, glancing back frequently. The priest finally made a move, and while he was still in the labyrinth, he was completely covered in moonlight. The man didn’t look entirely relieved, still rather anxious in appearance; he looked at Jack with a perplexed expression as if he had no idea what to do. Then his face turned white and terror took over, Jack spun around to see Pitch was right behind him.

“He’s out.” He told Pitch sharply, frowning as he noticed that the monster was acting strangely. Usually he was rushing at whoever got outside even though he couldn’t reach him. And he was never this silent or calm- Jack’s eyes widened as Pitch reclined down on the ground, even his large body (which usually showed when he tried to hide his agitation) was near flat against his body. The monster raised one of his many arms, making a coaxing motion with a claw.

“ **Come here.** ” Pitch rumbled. Jack shook his head, about to call him out on how dumb that tactic was when he heard movement behind him. The priest was showing less hesitation than when Jack had told him to follow. His foot hovered over the edge of moonlight before stepping over.

“What?!” Jack heard Pitch chuckle, “No!” He rushed forward to force the man back into the moonlight, but Pitch was quicker. He snatched up the human, his body flowing up the stairs in silence, the only sounds being the priest’s screams. They stopped at the nearest entrance, Jack making it there only moments after they arrived. The monster was hunched over the priest, whose eyes were locked on the beast, tears streaming from them.

“ **This would have gone much faster if you hadn’t tried to leave.** ” Jack realized that the monster had been testing the priest- he must have been following them the entire time. “ **Where would you have _gone_?** ” Pitch sounded quite amused, quite a contrary response to what the man had attempted to do. He hated to admit that the monster had a point, but there was no way the priests would have taken him back- it was very likely that they would have sent him back down here as soon as he was seen on the surface.

He wanted to tell Pitch to let him go, that he had been punished enough. But he knew the monster was looking far too forward to devouring the man’s fear to let him go. Jack slumped down, feeling defeated, but he wasn’t going to give up entirely. “Just do it, Pitch. Don’t make him suffer.” The priest jerked at Jack’s voice, his mind having solely been focused on the monster. 

“ **I am disappointed in you, Jack.** ” They monster craned his neck to stare at the warrior, “ **I thought you would want to hurt him in _some_ way- after what he did to you. But now you’re insisting on him receiving mercy.** ” His attention then went back to the priest, “ **But it wasn’t just you, was it? It was _all_ of you who tried to have him killed. Wasn’t it?** ” When the priest didn’t answer, the monster’s body flared up and his voice grew louder, “ **Wasn’t it?!** ” The human let out a cry, but he nodded his head as he tried to back away from Pitch. 

“Cut it out, Pitch!” Jack stood up, glaring, but he only got a snarl in return. The monster closed the distance between himself and the priest, capturing his chin in his claws, beads of blood appearing beneath the sharp tips.

“ **Why did you try to kill him? I am growing weary of your silence, human.** ” After several attempts to stutter out an answer, Pitch released him, moving across the room and lying down. His eyes never left the man, though, and Jack wondered if the monster had learned from him that humans didn’t speak when under so much stress. It took a couple minutes, and Jack was surprised by Pitch’s patience, but the priest finally gained the ability to speak. 

“He’s… He has been displeasing you, we know. The nightmares have- We only wanted to serve you. As you were unable to dispose of him, we thought to do it for you.” 

“ **You think that I can’t _kill_ him on my own?** ” Pitch hissed, obviously insulted by the idea. ” **That I would need _humans_ to do it for me?** ”

“It’s true.” Jack said, not reacting to the monster’s loud snarl. “He can’t hurt any of us- if you would only listen and tell everyone not to be afraid of him…”

“It’s your fault.” The priest accused, taking him aback. “You weren’t even supposed to be down here- Now people are offering praise to you. Thinking that Selene has chosen you. We have seen the offerings they leave to you.”

“Offerings?” Jack frowned, “Do you mean the _food_ and _clothing_ they leave so I don’t starve and freeze to death?”

“ **They have been leaving other things.** ” Pitch said, “ **Has Selene become jealous of this attention? Or is it the ones representing her that object to it?”** No answer from the priest was enough for Pitch. 

“What other things? I haven’t been given much else.” There were the occasional odd thing that Pitch brought down, like a gift or a weapon, but he could count those types of things he had been given on both hands.

“ **I haven’t been bringing it all down. Only what you need. But now I think I know why what I leave never stays for long.** ” He looked to the priest again before standing, “ **Your motivation is weak and far too… _human_.** ” he said, his boredom clear to Jack even in this voice. Without any warning, Pitch rushed over to the priest, grabbing him and flinging him across the room. “ **Run.** he ordered him, the man didn’t hesitate and neither did Pitch.

Jack chased after them, trying to antagonize Pitch, trying to get him to stop torturing the man. He watched as he attacked, his stomach turning as it was strikingly similar to the way that Pitch had toyed with the rat. The monster’s rapturous attitude disturbing Jack far too deeply for him to continue watching. Soon he had fallen behind, still hearing the strangled cries of the other human and knowing that there was nothing he could do to help.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Coming up... There are consequences to the rumor that Jack is dead.


	18. Chapter 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've got no excuse for why this is so late. It's much shorter than I planned it being, but I just wanted to get it out so you could know it's not dead.  
> ALSO LOOK  
> AWESOME ART LIKE WOW:  
> http://guardian-of-da-gay.tumblr.com/post/101277757543/finally-got-this-done-this-piece-was-a-little

Lack of sleep made Jack’s already bad mood even worse, and the monster prancing around like an idiot was not helping. If the warrior thought that Pitch had been happy at the idea of killing the priest, the act made him unbearably cheerful to be around. It wasn’t that Jack hated such an emotion, quite the contrary, but the _reason_ that he was acting like this…

It might have been easy to ignore if the monster wasn’t always talking to him about it. Whether the monster was delusional enough to think Jack enjoyed the subject or was just trying to agitate him he did not know. But he was asked if he had heard a particular scream, seen a certain look of terror, or heard one of the better pleas that had come from the priest.

He did his best to ignore him, and kept silent, in hopes that the monster would leave him alone, but Pitch didn’t seem to mind. Then the monster said something so surprising that he couldn’t help but respond.

“Thank you.”

Jack looked to Pitch, still finding it odd enough that the human side of his face was smiling as compared to its almost constant somber expression. “What?”

“I would not have been given a priest if it weren’t for you.” Pitch’s smile turn to a grin, though not even close in size to the one on the inhuman part of his face. “I never imagined that I would have a reason to have one be sacrificed. But it is something I have always desired.”

Jack was disgusted, not only at the monster, but at himself, because he knew it was true. That it was _his_ fault that the man had been sent down here. “ _That’s_ what you’ve always wanted, Pitch?” he snapped, “To have a certain kind of human get thrown in here with you? How about something better like _not_ being trapped down here!”

Pitch’s smile quickly faded and he withdrew from Jack, not saying another word as he left the human alone. The warrior was relieved that he didn’t see or hear any more of the monster for the next few hours, he needed time to sort through his emotions.

He should have stayed in one place, to lessen the chance of running into the monster again, but he couldn’t sit still. The silence of the labyrinth could get to him if he wasn’t careful, even the sounds of his footsteps were enough to distract him. But when he came upon the priest’s body, he wished he hadn’t wandered.

It disturbed him that he found the lack of injuries on him odd, the only marks seemed to be from when he was still alive and struggling against Pitch. He was sure that the monster would have already begun tearing apart the priest- leaving him intact was certainly the least frightening thing he could do. He didn’t even hear the monster approach until he curved his large body around Jack, picking up the priest in his mouth while miraculously avoiding eye contact despite the numerous amounts of them.

“What are you going to do with him?” Jack’s curiosity only went so far, if the monster was going to tear apart the other human, he didn’t want to watch. As he got no answer, he only continued to follow in silence, certain that Pitch was planning something special for the priest.

Voices overhead quickly distracted him, he hadn’t even noticed that the monster had stopped himself. It wasn’t the first time he had been able to hear people speaking above, but this wasn’t just any part of the labyrinth. He could see the black door above him, not only were people gathered at an entrance to this place, but the one that the monster had been known to reach out of. It had to be a large group of them for the sound to come down this deep. What were all these people doing here? 

Pitch’s sudden movement caught his attention, the monster jerking the door above him open in one motion, revealing that it was day time. “Pitch, don’t!” He didn’t know if the monster could hear him as the crowd’s panicked shrieks drowned him out. A shadow crossed the path of light, and when Jack tried to look he let out a cry of pain, immediately covering his eyes as he stumbled back, the monster’s roar disorientating him further. 

He could hear the screams grow louder and more hysterical, but the sudden brightness left his vision useless. “Pitch?” he tried, the sounds above retreating rapidly, he turned his back to the light before lowering his arms. He was met with blackness and a much duller light, as Pitch had backed away from the light himself and was watching Jack. 

The warrior had thought for a moment that Pitch had gone up into the world himself, despite the light of the sun. Making a visor with his hand, he looked up toward the opening, wondering just what had blocked the light like that. Looking back to the monster, he was going to ask, when he noticed that the other was no longer holding the priest. He looked around for the body, thinking Pitch dropped it when he roared, he didn’t see a trace of it. 

Suddenly aware of what happened, he grimaced at Pitch, “You _threw_ him at those people?” Jack didn’t have to wait for an answer, “You are so- where are you going?” The monster didn’t seem interested in talking or even paying attention to Jack, starting to walk away instead. “What was going on up there?” He scowled when the monster just left, sitting on the ground as the loss of excitement had him feeling his weariness again. The light wasn’t so blinding now, and he looked up through the door that had been left open. It wasn’t possible for the monster to close it because of the sun, and Jack found himself hoping that someone would come close it just so he could talk to them. But even if they did come, he couldn’t talk to them, or it would put the people close to him in danger again…

He decided to be content of the view he had now as he stared up through the entrance. He could see outside through the door that lead to the beach, the sights and sounds here would only seem so different to him. The sky was the same, but he could see the edges of a tree, something that didn’t exist on the beach. He was shocked to see the leaves were almost completely orange- had he really been down here that long? It had been spring when he had come down here, but Demeter was already in mourning. 

Jack looked down at himself, surveying himself in the light and thinking just how different he must look. He had been told it was impossible for him to grow any paler, but even though he wasn’t sick his skin was pallor in tone. He could clearly see several veins in his hands and arms, making his skin appear translucent. Even with the food he had been sent, he was still thinner than he had been when he arrived. His armor was surprisingly still intact, though a bit battered, as the only real combat he had down here was with the two humans. He hadn’t worn his sandals for quite some time now, when one got torn and unusable there was no use in wearing just the other one. Because of this, the bottoms of his feet were hardened to the point that he had neglected to wear the second pair of sandals he had been given. The soles of his feet were so filthy now, he was certain that even his mother couldn’t scrub them all the way clean. 

He lied down directly in the sunlight, closing his eyes as he enjoyed the weak amount of heat it provided. The temperature down here never seemed to change, hopefully that meant he wouldn’t freeze down here in winter. Without meaning to, he drifted into a deep sleep, awoken by cold droplets landing on his face. 

Before he opened his eyes he knew the monster was above him by the feel of the substance dripping on him. It was night now, and he could see that Pitch was looking out into the world above. “What happened up there?” He could hear the sound of items being shuffled around on the ground, “Hey! Bring it all down this time!” Jack demanded, not wanting anything to be left for the priests to steal. Though he doubted that they would come near this place after what Pitch did earlier today. When the monster came down with nothing in his arms, Jack was a bit surprised. It was clear that he was still sore about what he had said, but he didn’t withhold food from him. 

The monster arched his back, and out of his body fell all of the things he gathered above, coated in a thin lair of black slime, only lowering a piece of pottery down with care. Jack stared at the items, looking up at Pitch then down back at them. 

“Is this how you always get things from up there?” The monster stared back, the slight incline of his head telling Jack that he didn’t understand what was wrong with the action. “All the food I’ve eaten has been through this.” The disgust in his voice was apparent, but he didn’t wait until the slime faded away to examine all of the items. 

There wasn’t much food, and what was there could hardly be called a meal on its own; some fruits, and a mixture in a bowl which carried the scent of honey ,wine, and perfume, though it looked like there was more added to it. There were a couple of weapons, it wasn’t until he saw a particular sword with a colorful piece of fabric wrapped around it that he recognized that they were all from some of his fellow soldiers. He also was shocked to see his sister’s favorite doll- had she been up there when the priest was thrown? Why would she have been? He then felt strands of hair sticking out of the bowl of fluid, he grabbed the lock of hair and examined it. Then it clicked, this had to be his mother’s hair, and the obol among the rest of the items made it sink in. 

Jack knew that he was pretending to be dead, that the priests could not know that he was alive. But it hardly occurred to him that they would tell his family, maybe they even announced it in front of the whole town. He knew what had been going on above, they had been having a funeral, or at least the most they could have had without his body. Sitting on the ground, he felt his chest grow heavy, and he looked to distract himself with the monster. Pitch had vanished once more, however, and the warrior didn’t even notice the tears until he had begun sobbing, holding his sister’s doll close to his chest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Demeter is not someone that Jack knows personally, look 'em up if you're confused on his thoughts.
> 
> Coming up, Jack figures out a way that he can cause harm to Pitch. *runs off with that (and I welcome any guesses/theories)*


	19. Chapter 19

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AAAH SO LATE BUT HERE IT IS  
> I have made a tumblr for this fic, mostly because I saw it was getting hard to join ao3, so if you have a tumblr you can follow this as I will be posting on there when this fic updates:  
> http://erebus-labyrinth.tumblr.com/

Jack began to ration his food for the first time in a long while, as he no longer had the people above sending some to him. He set up his food according to what he would eat daily, hoping he could eat a little less each day. He put what would spoil at the front of the queue, knowing it would do him no good to eat anything that had gone rotten. He only had a little over a week of meals left, possibly two weeks if he stretched them out thin. 

He felt stuck, knowing that he needed to ask for help in order to survive, but also knowing that doing so would put himself, and more importantly his family, in danger. Jack couldn’t imagine the pain they were going through because of him, if his sister had been the one to come here and die… The human looked down at the doll she had left. It was the one he had got for her while he was out with the traders. It was a ragdoll, it had two arms but no legs, simply having a faded dress. He had bought it because of the sparse, darkened twine that hung from its head, having reminded him of his sister’s hair, and he had added an ink splotch under its right eye to make it look like her even more. Sliding the doll into the strap across his chest, using the twine to tie it on as well, he put away the food safely in case any rats were dumped into the labyrinth.

After a week of minimal action, the monster still avoiding him and no sacrifices to defend, his food supply was doing much better than he expected. But he was still no closer to figuring out how he could kill the monster, or at least survive long enough to do so. The silence of the labyrinth was getting to him once more, so when he thought he heard someone yelling his name, he had attributed it to nerves. That is, until he heard it a second and third time, followed by the monster’s roar. 

Jack rushed toward the source of the voice, hating how far such a short distance was made by the shape of the labyrinth. He could make out the monster’s thunderous voice and a smaller, but raised voice, his pace only quickening as he recognized it, dropping his shield and weapon in his haste. 

“Jack is alive! You’re lying!”

“ **He is dead. I killed him and you are next.** ”

When he reached the two, he saw Pitch holding Jamie upside down by the ankle, his mouth wide open and looking like he planned to swallow the boy whole. Jamie’s face was set hard, trying to look brave despite the tears running down it, but it clearly wasn’t enough as the monster was able to touch him.

“Jamie!” he called out, getting the boy’s attention. The smile that spread across his face was the only warning Jack got as he rushed forward, moving under the dangling boy just in time as he slipped through the monster’s claws. The warrior tried to catch him, only falling to the ground in the clumsy attempt, but he was able to break his fall. He hadn’t recovered from the hit, his wounds seeming to come to life from the pain it brought him, when Jamie hugged him tightly.

“I knew you were alive!” His voice was barely audible above the sounds of frustration coming from Pitch, noises that Jack had decided were the monster’s form of shouting expletives. Jack laughed, hugging him back despite the protest from his injuries.

“No way I’d let something as weak as Pitch kill me. He can’t even hold up a kid for long.” 

“Why did people think you were dead? I have to tell everyone that you’re still alive!” Jack frowned and shook his head.

“You can’t do that, Jamie…”

“Why not? The whole town is upset!” 

“Do you trust me, Jamie?” he asked, the boy didn’t hesitate to nod, “I can’t tell you why, not yet. But you just have to trust that it’s the right thing not to tell anyone.” Jamie looked like he might argue for a moment, but then his face grew serious and he nodded again. 

“But you have to hurry up and finish helping Pitch be a better friend!” At those words, the monster snarled loudly, surprising Jack. He looked over at him, having thought he left when he lost hold of Jamie. But his large head was peering around the corner, the rest of his body no doubt filling up the pathway behind him. 

“ **Your naivety is aggravating, child. Leave or not even he will be able to keep me from devouring you.** ”

“I don’t know if I can, Jamie. Does that sound very friendly to you?” Part of him wanted to humor the boy, but he knew it was dangerous for him to think the monster could ever be friendly. 

“Yes! He told me I could leave.” Jamie told Jack before turning to Pitch, “Thank you for warning me.” The warrior stared at Jamie, being able to tell the smile on his face was genuine. Pitch, on the other hand, was swelling with rage, and Jack was very thankful that Jamie wasn’t as easily frightened as most kids his age. 

“ **It was a threat! Not a warning!** ” 

“Don’t you ever get tired of screaming all the time?” Jack asked before focusing on Jamie again, “Could you tell my mom and sister that I’m still alive?” He knew he could trust them not to share the information, and he couldn’t let them believe he was dead when he could now tell them otherwise. 

“Of course! And we can get you food again!” 

“No, you don’t- If you can it would be great, but… Be careful about it. No one can know that I’m alive, okay? You could get in trouble.”

“I’ll be extra careful! Do you want me to tell anything to your mom?”

“Tell her that I love her.” Jack looked down at the doll he had attached to him, “And tell my sister that her doll still has nicer looking hair than her.” If there was any doubt about him being alive, he was sure that would clear it up for his sister, and hopefully his mom as well. 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Every other day or so, food was brought by Jamie, but only small amounts at a time. Either because Jamie wanted to keep it hard to notice, or it was all that they were able to spare; he hoped it was the former. The monster would bring it down for Jack, but he continued to avoid the human, leaving the food down at the exit where the moonlight came in.

When he sat down to eat the stale bread, he put his shield down next to him, squinting as the moonlight reflected off of the metal and into his eyes. He pushed the shield away with a foot, looking up at the ceiling as the light moved across it. Stuffing the remaining bit of loaf into his mouth, he used both hands to slowly move the shield around, watching the light as it moved from the ceiling to the wall. It was difficult to maneuver the reflection, but he continued to practice, even doing it during the day. And the very next night, the monster came, bringing more food for Jack. 

The human half of his face sneered at Jack, dropping the food down into the dirt. He turned his back to leave, and that’s when Jack shifted his shield, causing the reflection of the moon to strike Pitch’s back. It looked like a large chunk of Pitch simply vanished, only a few wisps of shadow rising into the air and vanishing. The monster turned, growing in size as he tried to understand what had struck him, only to have the light hit him again in the neck. With a roar, he snapped at the light while simultaneously trying to keep it from reaching him. 

Jack laughed, in triumph and amusement, as he twisted the shield, taking out a piece of Pitch’s face, even the eyes and teeth the light hit vanishing. A sound unlike any he had heard the monster make pierced his ears, almost making him drop the shield. Pitch began backing away from the advancing light, swiping at it when it got too close, causing his fingers, hands, and several limbs to disintegrate. It finally seemed too much for the monster, as he turned tail and ran, but Jack moved the light across his back in a swift flash, causing a large part of Pitch to become separated and fall to the ground. 

Running after him, he saw Pitch turn down the path that led to the center of the labyrinth, leaving splatters of black behind him. Jack ran back down the stairs, stopping to look at the mess left behind by the battle. The piece of Pitch that had been cut off was losing its form, the fluid spreading across the floor. He had done it- something no one else had. He had injured the monster of the labyrinth.

*~*~*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Ever since Jack had mentioned his inability to leave the labyrinth, the monster decided to avoid him. It was the truth, and something he didn’t like to dwell on. But he always found himself returning to him without trying. Jack had a habit of appearing where Pitch was, and of course talking to him, and it was getting increasingly difficult not to respond. Avoiding the warrior was not going to end in Pitch killing him, however. 

He was quite aware of Jack’s lack of supplies, and he was going to demand offerings of human food as well in order to keep him fed. So when Jamie came looking for Jack, he saw no reason to spare the boy. The warrior’s impeccable timing once again prevented that; but at least Pitch no longer had to speak to the priests of other offerings.

He was back to doing errands for the human, which paired along with Jack’s disrespect and disregard for the monster’s own needs, had him seething. As Jack was usually roaming the labyrinth, he chose to simply drop the food off at the entrance for him to find eventually. Of course, this also meant that Pitch could not spend as much time there, or be forced into Jack’s company when he came looking for food. 

It worked for a while, Jack would eat the food and be gone before Pitch brought the next batch. The monster wasn’t sure if Jack was trying to annoy him, but instead of staying away, he had decided to wait for his food to be brought this time. He was tempted to throw the food out into the sand, but just threw it on the ground in front of him and turned to leave the human.

Then a very alien sensation struck him; the feeling of intense pain. He had felt pain when he pushed too hard against the light, but he had never been pushed _by_ the light. When he spun, his throat was assaulted, and what he saw terrified him more than the pain. The visible shaft of moonlight was further in his labyrinth than he thought possible. And it moved swiftly and separate from the other moonbeams, coming at him before he could assess the situation any further. He snapped at it, trying to intimidate it, but it came at him again, tearing through him once more. His vision was warped momentarily as eyes dissolved, and his teeth and part of his jaw were torn off and banished by the light. He let out an agonized scream, moving back as quickly as possible, not wanting to lose sight of his assailant. His jaws seemingly useless, he tried to claw at the light instead, but his claws were torn off, along with any unfortunate part of the limbs caught up in the light. 

The pain took control of his actions, and instead of watching the light, he moved to get away as quickly as possible. He felt hot pain across his back as he fled, slamming into walls as he scrambled to reach the darkness in the labyrinth. He collapsed as soon as he reached the center, eyes watching the way he had come, fearing that he was followed. The light had not gone further than the stairs, that much he could sense, and he allowed himself to relax. 

Selene had come into his labyrinth for him; instead of keeping him imprisoned she was going to bring an end to him. He let out a moan, curling his trembling form as he felt his body slowly begin to repair itself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How will Jack utilize his new weapon? And how will Pitch respond to the threat?


	20. Chapter 20

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No excuses as to why I took so long on this. Thanks for sticking around and being patient with me. And I hope you enjoy!
> 
> P.S.  
> http://erebus-labyrinth.tumblr.com/  
> Here is the link for the tumblr again, for those of you who do not have an ao3 account ~~and without bookmarks have trouble telling when this thing will actually be updated~~ or those who do that would like another way to know when it's updating, to see material relating to the fic, and even ask questions.

There was no denying it this time, he had actually done damage to Pitch. The injuries couldn’t be mistaken for the monster’s oozing body, as he had never it disappear like that, or have so much of it come off at once. Whenever the monster had tried to move into the light before, he had been blocked, but not truly damaged by it. But when the light moved to him, it must have a different effect. Perhaps it was like a dull weapon, which didn’t much damage unless swung and striking someone properly. The coverage of this weapon was very small, however, as it could only go up a few of the steps before the light was blocked by the ceiling, and even that was difficult to achieve. He had to make sure that the light reached farther, even if the moonlight wasn’t at its strongest. 

Counting on the monster hiding for some time, he left his shield behind to go around the rest of the labyrinth. He gathered various types of metals, from armor to weapons, picking up the newest looking of them. Several of them were dull and marred with dirt and age, which he guessed would make them less able to reflect the light.

Using the best polished of them, he reflected the light from his own shield onto a breastplate, then another shield, making the light bounce off of the metal. He added a few more pieces before rearranging them to adjust the angle of the light. The light reached all the way up the stairs now, the beam going across the path, blocking Pitch off from the rest of the labyrinth. 

He fiddled with the arrangement a bit more, making it secure so they wouldn’t fall down if brushed against when going up or down the stairs. He also tested the reflecting abilities of the unused metal items. Some of the duller ones he could shine with cloth and a bit of water, but some were too small to reflect the light well enough. They would only work if held in hand, and even then the amount reflected was minuscule. 

Jack searched the labyrinth again, creating piles of metal items as he went along, bringing some of it back with him to the light. Pitch had not tried to come out from the center, even when the sun rose and replaced the moon. Jack saw that the sunlight was much easier to reflect and much brighter than the moonlight, but he was unsure if it would have as much effect on Pitch. Still, he continued to shift the metal in order to follow the changing position of the sun. 

When the next night came, Jack had just finished fixing up the metal when he heard the familiar sound of one of the doors opening. Making sure that the light would keep Pitch from coming, he ran past it and near the center of the labyrinth. He did not want to be seen yet, and with the light in place he didn’t have to worry about Pitch hunting the person down. 

He heard Pitch approaching from behind him, but he didn’t turn around to look at him. The monster passed him slowly, his usually large form compact as he sluggishly made his way toward the scent of the human’s fear. A moment later, a loud hiss out of sight made Jack grin, which only grew as he saw the monster retreating backwards at a much faster rate than he had come. 

The sacrifice didn’t come their way immediately, but they didn’t take long enough for the light to shift away. Pitch was getting increasingly bolder, however, as he crept forward toward the light, obviously ready to bolt if it moved toward him. Jack couldn’t help himself as he let out a loud exclamation, making the monster jump and bound back; he muffled a laugh as Pitch snarled into his face. In the silence that followed, he could faintly hear footsteps getting louder. The monster heard it too as he moved right up to the light, trying to figure out how to get past it. There was a scream from the unseen human, and Jack continued to hold himself back, sure that Pitch couldn’t get to his intended sacrifice.

He was right. Pitch was roaring and snarling far more than he would if he had actually been able to catch the human. Even if the human could see past Pitch’s body, he was sure they wouldn’t be paying attention to anyone but the monster. So Jack moved closer, wanting to see what the other human was doing in response to Pitch. The thrashing actions of the monster looked like they could kill anyone who got too close, but Jack didn’t pay any mind to them as the limbs went through him rather than hit him. 

There was a woman, she was curled up on the ground, covering her face with her arms. If she was screaming, Jack couldn’t make out the sound past the deafening noise of the monster. After a bit, she dared look up, making Pitch lunge at her and hitting the light. She seemed to realize that Pitch couldn’t reach her, and she slowly stood up, holding herself steady against the wall. Jack took several steps back, just in case her eyes wandered and managed to catch him. He took the cue from the monster, as Pitch’s roaring and movements grew more frantic, to mean that she had gone down the steps. 

He waited a few moments before going past Pitch and down the stairs himself, going slow and listening to make sure that she wasn’t still around. Several small stones and dust fell from above the door outside, and he knew it meant she was on her way back up to the village. He turned his attention back to Pitch, who was still trying to get past the light. Going partway up the stairs, he put his hands on the shield closest to the monster and turned it and the light toward him. He grinned as the monster shrieked and bolted back into the center of the labyrinth. 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

His recovery had been slow, despite the absolute darkness he brought himself to, his body took its time regenerating the lost substance. The physical part he could deal with, but the fear the attack brought was near unbearable. His eyes never left the path, worried that the light would come seeping in to finish him. 

He remained unmoving through the rest of the night and the next day, thinking he would have to sit here for at least a few more days. Hope for a swifter recovery came when he sensed a sacrifice’s fear. He pushed himself up, his body tensing up as he made his form slimmer, wanting to hide his still missing parts in case he came upon Jack. The boy had been there when he was attacked and would surely survey the damage done if he didn’t conceal it. 

Pitch wanted to run to the sacrifice, for he was certain feeding off of their fear would renew his body immediately. But he was feeling spent from the attack and the shock of it, so his movements were slow, and he hoped that the sacrifice would come to him. He was not in the mood for a hunt right now. Nor was he in the mood to see Jack, but there he was- waiting for Pitch, surely. Why else would he be in this part of the labyrinth? The human must not realize that there was a sacrifice, or he would have gone to try and lead them out. Pitch knew he just had to block the exit to prevent their escape, so he continued, ignoring Jack as he passed him. 

The illumination ahead of him did not make him falter, though he registered in his mind that it was brighter than usual. That is, until he was close enough to see that the light was actually _inside_ of the labyrinth- a beam of it reaching all the way up the stairs to make a barrier across his path. 

Light did not naturally bend in such ways, it had to be Selene again, encroaching upon his labyrinth even more. He moved a clawed hand forward to test it, to see if he could somehow get past it. With a hiss, he retreated from the burning sensation, not bothering to go slow for his weary body, in case Selene sensed his touch and tried to move after him.

When it was clear that she wasn’t, he was drawn toward the fear, still wary and watching his step to be safe. His senses focused on every detail, he could see the shifting dust and dirt in the air around him, hear Jack’s slow heartbeat and breath. 

Then the human exclaimed something, Pitch did not make out what exactly, but his high strung nerves caused him to jump up and rush back toward the safety of the darkness. He stopped upon registering that it had been Jack trying to upset him, he snarled at the human, who clearly didn’t care as he was laughing behind a hand. Pitch went back to ignoring him, knowing that showing anger towards his amusement would only encourage him. 

Pitch could hear the human getting closer, so he went up to the light, trying to see if he could somehow make it around the beam of light. But even if he shifted to his smaller form he couldn’t squeeze past it, so he had to try something else. When the human came into view, he lunged, not caring if he hit the light, and made the fiercest sounds he could.

The human reacted in a way that Pitch normally was not very fond of, but it enraged him now. It was rarely fun when the humans simply fell to the ground, he preferred it when they tried to run from him. But this time he needed her to run; if she went back from where she came from then he could wait out the night and go after her when the moon was gone. But she stayed there, curled up on the ground, not moving even as his roars grew louder. 

When she finally gained the nerve to move, she went in the direction that Pitch did not want her to go. He could feel her leaving his labyrinth and her fear lessening as it was replaced by relief. The fear that he was going to use to replenish his body and strength was now out of his reach. He tried to attack the light once more in his anger, its current complacency making him a bit bolder. Then the light attacked him suddenly, making him return to the center of the labyrinth more injured than he had been before.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Jack knew he had to do something with this new weapon, but the light was too unreliable. It wasn’t long before Pitch was able to get out of the center of the labyrinth, he just had to move while the light wasn’t blocking his path. The human couldn’t stay awake all the time, so he wasn’t able to constantly move the position of the armor to match the light. He also found that the light got weaker the further it was stretched. So even though he had plenty to reflect it off of, it wouldn’t be able to reach throughout the labyrinth. He had collected all of the reflective material throughout the labyrinth, and spent hours polishing them. Although he wasn’t sure what he would do with them, he wanted to be prepared when he figured how to attack the monster. 

The human’s stomach rumbled, reminding him that it had been too long since he had last eaten. Pitch hadn’t brought any food down since Jack had struck him with the light. He could see why the monster wouldn’t bring it to the same place, and he had been stuck in the center for a while, but surely he would have brought some down by now and put it somewhere else. The human had been throughout the labyrinth recently, to see if he missed any potential weapons, and he hadn’t spotted a speck of food. So he went to find Pitch and ask him about it, he hoped that it was the monster’s fault and not that something had kept Jamie from bringing any. 

When he found Pitch, calling out to him made the monster flinch, “You’re still jumpy?” Jack asked, grinning, “So what’s going on with the food? Why aren’t you bringing any down?” Pitch’s many eyes narrowed as he let out an annoyed hiss.

“ **You know exactly why.** ”

“I can get why you’re mad at me, but isn’t killing me by starving me _cheating_?” The monster looked confused, Jack still found it odd that he could make out expressions on the creature’s strange visage. Then he looked angry, an expression he was certain anyone would be able to recognize.

“ **Selene is waging war on me! And you expect me to risk myself to feed a human?!** ”

“What are you talking about?”

“ **You were there! You saw her come in here and attack me!** ”

Jack stared at Pitch for a good ten seconds before he began laughing at the monster. He laughed long enough for the him to turn and begin skulking away. “Wait- Pitch!” he gasped, running after him, “You think _Selene_ was doing that?”

“ **I know it was her! I was struck by moonlight!** ” Jack was almost tempted to let Pitch keep thinking that, but he had to let him know the truth.

“You were, but I did that- not her.” The monster was scowling at him, obviously not believing him. “If it was her, I’m sure you would be fried right now.” The human’s smile grew smug, “I reflected the moonlight and hit you with it.” Pitch was quiet, now actually thinking about the possibility. After a moment, he looked back to Jack, there was a flicker of relief in his expression before rage took over.

Jack laughed again as the monster threw a fit, thrashing around in anger (and embarrassment he was sure) before bolting away. “And I’m going to light this whole place up!” he shouted after him. The pride he felt for his weaponry grew as he saw the monster’s reaction. Pitch still had no way to fight him, and all Jack had to do was find out how he could corner him and hit him with enough light to completely destroy him. 

Now he understood why Pitch hadn’t been going up to get him food, even though that one door was shaded by the trees, he must have thought that Selene could still reach him if he opened the door. He likely would have hidden from any sacrifices while they were being brought too, instead of lurking at the edge of the light when they were being brought down. 

_The light coming from the other entrances…_ Jack’s eyes and grin grew wide as he realized what he needed to do. If he could reflect the light from every entrance he could cover most of the labyrinth in light bright enough that Pitch would be killed by it. 

The full moon was approaching soon, that would be the perfect time to attack the monster. The hardest part would be getting all of the doors opened and left open. It seemed like a small detail, however, if it would get rid of Pitch once and for all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How will Pitch combat Jack's plan?


	21. Chapter 21

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's the next chapter! I hope it was worth the wait!

Jack began preparing for the full moon immediately, placing the metal pieces by the entrances, from swords to armor he left nothing out, save for his own spear, as he wanted to insure that there was nowhere for Pitch to hide. Even if he hid in the center of the labyrinth on the night of the full moon, Jack could just take all of the reflective material and focus the light there. The monster would be trapping himself if he attempted avoiding the attack in that way. And Jack could see no other place in the labyrinth that could be safe from the light. 

Pitch was avoiding him again, the human knew he was either furious or ashamed, likely both. Still, he tried to thwart his plans in his own way as Jack would find his arrangements scattered and spread all over. Jack would patiently put them back where they belonged, and after a few times of Pitch messing them up he had their positions memorized so it became easier each time the monster tried it.

On the night before the full moon, Jack knew he had to be certain that he could open up the doors and allow the light to come in. Before he left, he made sure he knew where Pitch was- and as the monster was avoiding him, he did not have to worry about being followed, and crept out onto the beach. The day had just ended, he could still see the very tip of the sun over the water as it sunk down. 

Jack climbed up the rockery, smiling as he saw the disturbed moss on the stones from all the people who had escaped. When he made it to the top, he was surprised at how different his town looked now, the buildings were the same, but the change of season had been drastic. Nearly all of the leaves had fallen, a few still clung to the trees, the wind trying to break their hold. He was used to being away for long at sea, but never longer than a single season, and it had been at least two now. It was stranger still because he had been beneath his home the whole time, not across the seas. 

Instead of shuddering as the wind blew harder, he felt as if he was standing stronger when the gale brought a chill to his bones. He began walking forward, positive thoughts filling him as he calculated what to do. If there was one thing he loved more than the feel of the wind again, it was the possibility of being out before the first snowfall. The snow here was not always guaranteed, and what did come was watery and melted easily, but he still adored it. Perhaps when he vanquished Pitch the gods would reward his return with a heavy snowfall.

Luckily, the streets were completely abandoned, Jack was certain it was because of Pitch’s stunt with the priest’s body. People were most likely too afraid to go out during the night, in case he could somehow come up here. He didn’t dwell on the disgust he felt for the monster and the terror he caused, as he was going to remedy that, and then no one would have to fear facing him again.It was tempting to return to his house, to see his mother and sister in person again, and to tell them that he would be home soon with the monster slain. It would be unwise, though, as he already had a minimal amount of time up here. He didn’t want Pitch to notice he had left, and the longer he stayed up here the bigger the chance of being spotted by someone was. 

Jack found the closest entrance easily, though he at first found himself walking along the path he would take in the labyrinth despite no walls being around him. He knew that the priests used a device to open up the doors, as they were far too heavy for them to move. And while Jack thought he would be able to, he knew it would be faster to use what the priests did. 

The crank used to move the door open was too complex for Jack to understand how exactly it worked. He had never watched them as they used it, only having focused on the opening doors when it was used, so it took him a bit to turn it the right direction. The door slowly began sliding to the side, the rope attached to it winding around the circular cover, and when Jack let go of it, it began spinning back into place slowly. He couldn’t have that, it needed to stay open without him here to hold it if his plan was to work. So he continued to crank it until the hole beneath was completely exposed, the rope being pulled to its end with a loud clicking sound. Jack let go of the handle to see how fast it would close again, but it didn’t close on its own this time, staying in place.

For a moment, he thought he had broken it, and it would remain jammed in place because of it. But then he looked at the device to see a small piece of metal had been clicked into a different place, and when he returned it to its previous position, the rope began to unwind again. It was unraveling from the door rapidly as it closed far too fast for Jack’s liking, he had to grab the spinning handle of the crank to prevent it from slamming shut loudly. For he did not want any villagers peering through their window to see what the noise was. 

He reasoned that all of the doors were like this, but he still checked each of them to see if they were open and if they had a locking mechanism as the first one did. The most difficult door to open was the one that Pitch used, as there had been no device attached to it because of how the monster could reach out and grab more than the sacrifice. The lack of leaves on the tree meant there was a chance that light could come through the one entrance the priests didn’t dare use. He had put shields beneath just in case, and he was glad now that he had so as to prevent the monster from retreating to the lessened shade of the foliage. Jack chewed on some bread that had been left by Jamie as he tried to figure out how to open the door quickly and without getting hurt in the process. He looked around at the fallen branches, as no one ever came to clear them out, and realized they could be used as levers for the door. 

He brought over the strongest branches, forcing the door open just enough so he could fit the end of them in, then pushed it in further. He did this with several branches until he thought he would be able to force it open. Jack decided this would be the last door he opened since it would still take a while, hopefully the light from the others would trap and kill Pitch before he made his way to this one. 

The warrior headed back toward the beach, running his plan through his head. He would first be sure Pitch wasn’t in the center of the labyrinth, then use the door by the beach and its light to keep him from returning. Then he would use the door next to the one that was difficult to open and proceed with all of the others to keep him trapped. As he wouldn’t be able to check where Pitch was he would open the last door as well in case he had somehow made it there.

When he was back in the labyrinth, he made one last round, fixing what Pitch had scattered again before he settled down to sleep. Jack wasn’t sure how long he had slept when he was awoken by a tremendous crashing sound from above. He jerked up in his sleep, looking around, as he hadn’t slept by the open door he had no idea what time it was.  
The sound of screams and yells got him onto his feet, and he began to run to where the sounds seemed to be the loudest, he heard Pitch roars as well. As he ran, he felt that something was wrong, that something was off about the path he was running on. It was almost completely clear, nothing hindered him besides bones and the occasional odd item. With a start, he understood what was wrong. Where were the shields? The weapons? The armor? Everything he had laid out was nowhere to be seen. He picked up his pace once he was able to tell the sounds were coming from the shaded entrance.

He stopped when he saw the lower part of Pitch’s body, his head and several arms were above ground as hands below clung to the walls, and arms beneath supporting his upright body. He could hear shouts and cries from above, but all were muffled by Pitch’s body, which suddenly expanded in a familiar way. Jack could hear the monster breathing in the life from someone- how had he been able to reach any humans with the leaves gone? Who would be foolish enough to get close? It had to be night out, or Pitch wouldn’t be able to get out so far into the world above. So why were so many people out? If he had simply stuck his head out of the entrance, there was no way humans would leave their homes to come see. Likely, they would be too terrified to exit the buildings they were in, and if they did he was certain they would run in the opposite direction. 

The sound that woke him came to mind, the noise was extremely loud, and thinking back to it, the noise had come from above. It could have brought the humans from their homes to investigate. But what had happened up there? Why would so many people come out? The noise had been nothing like the monster could make, it was metallic- like steel slamming against stone.

Jack grew very still, his eyes wide as his breath caught in his throat. All the reflective material… Pitch must have thrown it up into the town. He saw the branches he had slid underneath this entrance lying on the floor in front of him. The sound of running and screaming grew fainter as the humans fled, Jack only stared at Pitch as he moved back down, closing the door before letting his body shrink to its more human form. 

When he turned around and saw Jack, both sides of the face smiled and he walked past him, hissing words into his ear.

“Your move, Frost.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Up next, Pitch's POV on the events that have been occurring. And Jack calls in his favor.


	22. Chapter 22

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> WOOO HERE IT IS.  
> Also, I have the ending for this fic in mind, but I have several ways of how it will go down. There's the mild route, the somewhat intense route, and the VERY intense actiony route. Let me know which one you all would be interested in reading! I'll ask this a few more times in later chapters.

It was infuriating to know it had been Jack attacking him with the moonlight. And he would not admit it, also a relief. For if Selene had truly decided to destroy him, he was certain it would have been done as soon as he moved from the labyrinth’s center. Listening to Jack boast about his triumph was something Pitch was certainly not up to, so he kept away from him. And though he hated to admit it, the human was closer to completing his goal than Pitch was. He was unable to lay a claw on him, where Jack could cleave off hunks of him with a properly aimed beam of light!

His mind was in array, as he had many conflicting ideas on what to do about this. He could just avoid going near the entrances, or just wherever Jack was. But he was already a prisoner in this labyrinth, and he would not allow it to be made smaller than it already was. So instead he tried to disrupt Jack’s collection of metal. He would fling them around the labyrinth randomly, cover them in dust and dirt to keep them from reflecting, and he even threw some out onto the beach. Of course, Jack would just find them, clean them up, go outside to pick them out of the sand, or even the water where they had sunk when Pitch managed to throw them far enough. 

It took him a while to understand why Jack kept putting the items in a certain pattern. He had simply thought he was stockpiling them near each entrance so he could quickly pick them up and use them when a human came through. But as he was putting them in the same places over and over again, he knew that he had them positioned so they would reflect light whenever the entrances were opened. Which meant that he couldn’t get near any of the humans when they came through, as the moonlight would create a barrier. That was easily fixed, however, and he was certain Jack hadn’t thought of the fact that Pitch could tell a sacrifice was coming before the door opened. All he would have to do was knock aside the armor before any light came in. He knew there would be a few instances in which he couldn’t make it before that, however, and though it was an annoying way for Jack to keep the sacrifices safe, it wasn’t nearly as bad as the human using the reflected light to attack him directly.

The next time the door opened, he happened to be close to it, and he was so intent on moving the reflective items away he didn’t realize something was off until he had cleared them all away. He had _heard_ the door opening, but he hadn’t sensed any fear at all. He tilted his head, listening as the door opened, he heard the sounds of someone exerting themselves. Pitch didn’t have to listen long before he knew it was Jack up there. 

What was he doing? It was against Jack’s interests to be seen alive, and even more against his interests for him to be opening up the labyrinth. Pitch paced back and forth as he tried to think of his reasoning. It only baffled him more when Jack closed the door once again and left, only for Pitch to hear another door opening. Once again, he moved away all the reflective material before light could come in. 

It didn’t make sense; why was Jack opening and closing the entrances? He continued pondering this, putting in as many factors as he could to figure out the warrior’s motives. His eyes widened and he took in a deep breath, a wave of fear coursing through him. Tomorrow was the full moon, if the items were positioned as they were and all the entrances were opened, nearly all of the labyrinth would be illuminated. 

Immediately, he began hurrying to the center of the labyrinth, where he knew the light couldn’t reach. His speed gradually decreased before he stopped completely, his body spiking up in agitation, he eyes glowing slits as he let out a low growl. He was not going to hide in the center until the full moon was passed, he would _not_ allow himself to be cowed by this human. He waited until Jack had returned and fallen asleep, the human having put the items back into place once again before drifting off. 

Pitch crept out of middle of the labyrinth, he stopped at the entrance close to it, where moonlight was already being reflected through the open door. He picked up one of the spears that wasn’t in the light and flung it at the reflecting shield, then when it no longer shone light toward him, he used the spear to reach and drag it out of the light. He was doing it as quiet and as carefully as he could, so as to not wake Jack who was sleeping near the light. In reality, it was only Jack being a deep sleeper that kept him from waking, for Pitch was making an awful racket with the scraping and flinging of metal. 

He then lied down on the pile of items, when he stood they were suspended in his body, he looked to Jack and hissed at his sleeping form before moving onto the next stockpile. He used some of his smaller hands to keep them from falling out of his body, metal clanged and scraped against the walls and ground as he bounded through the labyrinth. He had to get rid of everything, and he had to put them somewhere that Jack couldn’t get them. 

Pitch made it to the entrance that was shaded by the trees, he could see that the human had opened this one as well. He hadn’t closed it all the way, and Pitch could see the ends of several branches through the cracks. It made it easier for him to open the door, he let the branches fall inside the labyrinth as he shifted the metal. Once it was fully open he lowered his body, focusing before all the foreign objects in his body came flying out. They flew from the entrance like a geyser, the night was silent for a split second before everything came crashing down. 

Then something he hadn’t anticipated happened, the town was filled with fear immediately after the items had fallen. At first, it was a brief fear, of being startled, then the confusion and paranoia came as they wondered what had happened. The humans that ventured out were filled with more fear as they saw the cause of the noise, as they had no idea where it all could have come from. 

Their fear turned to terror as Pitch reared his head out of the entrance, all of the human’s eyes were on him, and he let out a roar to get the attention of the ones who had yet to notice him. Many of them ran into their homes, others ran further, several fainted and many were stuck staring at the monster. This had never happened before, Pitch had never shown himself above the surface and some of the humans surmised that he was displeased with their offerings this year.

Two men in particular decided to do something about it, they grabbed an older human, then began dragging him toward the monster. Pitch grew excited, struggling to get closer to the approaching humans, but he couldn’t go any further beyond the shadows. His body oozed out onto them, making the harmless shadows of the branches look ominous as his body took the shape of them. 

Another man cried out, Pitch was too focused on the meal being brought to him, but it was clear that he had some relationship with the sacrifice as other humans had to hold him back. Pitch wished that they didn’t, but he was willing to be satisfied with this offering. When they got close, they paused, trying to figure out how to get the frantic human to Pitch without getting grabbed themselves. The monster was tapping his claws against the ground impatiently, his mouth hanging open in anticipation as he inhaled loudly. The men decided to shove the other forward, he stumbled across the ground before falling, the others running as soon as they had done so, not looking to see if Pitch had taken the human. Only one of his hands fell into the shadows, but it was enough for Pitch, a tendril snapped around his wrist and pulled him fully into them. Pitch grabbed him with a multitude of hands, grinning widely before he breathed in his fear, he held the dead man in his arms as he looked up.

He saw there were several humans still staring, one of them being the man related to the one he had killed, who was on his knees and weeping. Pitch’s eyes focused on him as he held the dead human’s legs in his mouth, his nails digging into the flesh of his shoulders as he slowly tugged on either side of him. The man’s torso separated from his legs, his guts beginning to spill out, only the intestines holding the body together now. Pitch flung the body at the remaining humans, sinking back down into the labyrinth and closing the door behind him. 

Pitch let out a pleased sigh as his form shrunk, he turned to see that Jack was here now, and that he had come in a rush. He grinned, knowing what had awoken him, and the look on his face let him know that he understood what Pitch had done. He walked past him, head held high, only lowering it to whisper in his ear. 

“Your move, Frost.” 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Jack occupied himself by searching for anything that Pitch hadn’t thrown to the surface, though it wasn’t much at all. His spear was still here, but his shield was now lost, the only things Pitch had left were weapons that had hardly any reflective surfaces on them. 

Once he was done, however, he had to think about the events of the night. He sat down, leaning against one of the walls as he stared at the ceiling. It was always too quiet in here, too dark, too stale- he hated it. He could hardly stand to be indoors for too long, but this place was far worse- there were no windows to let in air and light, and there was no company save for Pitch. He had been so close, he had nearly defeated him, killed him and saved everyone. Now he was back to square one; worse off even, as any weaponry he had was now taken from him. 

Jack had truly thought he had won, that he would be going back to his family in less than two days’ time, having taken away the source of their fear. Tears of frustration filled his eyes as he felt the hope he held slipping away. He wasn’t afraid, but still he felt despair, and no matter how hard he tried he couldn’t stop crying.

Even though he could leave whenever he liked, he felt as trapped as the monster was. 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
After besting him the night before, Pitch hadn’t expected Jack to speak to him anytime soon, but he had actually come looking for him. The human looked very serious, and was glaring at Pitch so hard that he thought he might try and attack him again. 

Instead he pulled out the old book he had taken from the center of the labyrinth, Pitch leaned forward to get a better look at it, confusion apparent on his face. 

“Why are you showing me this?” 

“Read it.” Jack ordered.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter will be the contents of the journal! 
> 
> Also, I forgot the email I used for the tumblr. I'll work on remembering that!


End file.
